Iraqi prisons witnessed a dangerous escalation of violations in 2025, with IOHR recording 400 deaths due to torture, medical neglect, and catastrophic overcrowding exceeding 300%. The Observatory confirmed 140 cases were closed without investigation, urging urgent government action, and warning that the absent IHCHR Board of Commissioners fosters impunity.
May 25, 2026
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) stated that Iraqi prisons and detention centers witnessed a dangerous escalation in gross human rights violations during 2025. This comes amid persistent severe overcrowding, widespread torture, medical neglect, and a lack of transparency regarding the fate of hundreds of detainees and inmates who lost their lives inside official detention facilities.
In an investigative report, the Observatory pointed to the death of at least 400 prisoners and detainees across various Iraqi prisons and detention centers in 2025. It emphasized that this toll reflects a "silent humanitarian catastrophe" within penal institutions, exposing the magnitude of the collapse within the country's detention and humanitarian care system.
The Observatory also stated that information obtained by its field team and monitoring networks confirms that the files of 140 death cases were closed without disclosing any details regarding the causes of death or the circumstances preceding them. Furthermore, families were denied access to full information or medical reports, which perpetuates a policy of impunity and raises serious concerns about the existence of systematic violations taking place away from any independent oversight or real accountability.
The Observatory indicated that the majority of Iraqi prisons suffer from catastrophic overcrowding, which has exceeded 300% of their capacity in some facilities according to official statements. Meanwhile, arrests and detentions continue at a high rate without any development of prison infrastructure or improvement of basic health and humanitarian services for inmates.
According to the data underpinning the report, the number of prisoners and detainees inside Iraqi prisons reached nearly 67,000 individuals, while the actual capacity of penal institutions does not exceed 25,000. This has led to outbreaks of skin and respiratory diseases, rising rates of suffocation and malnutrition, and a near-total collapse of medical services within many detention facilities.
The Observatory confirmed that some Iraqi prisons have turned into closed environments lacking the bare minimum of humanitarian standards. This is particularly evident in the Nasiriyah Central Prison (notoriously known as "Al-Hoot"), Tel Kaif Prison in Nineveh, Karkh Central Prison, and Taji Prison, as well as a number of detention centers run by security agencies. Testimonies from former detainees and victims' families have documented the prevalence of physical and psychological torture, deprivation of medical treatment, and denial of contact with lawyers and families, in addition to severe overcrowding inside cells.
The report noted that Nasiriyah Central Prison is considered one of the facilities that witnessed the most serious violations in recent years due to extreme overcrowding and the absence of healthcare. Dozens of deaths linked to diseases, medical neglect, and poor detention conditions were recorded there, at a time when prison administrations are unable to provide proper ventilation, clean drinking water, or essential medicines.
The Observatory also revealed the continued use of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment during investigation and detention phases to extract forced confessions. Its sources indicate that detainees are subjected to severe beatings, electric shocks, prolonged suspension, sleep deprivation, and denial of medical care, causing permanent disabilities for several inmates or leading to their death inside detention centers.
It added that violations inside prisons are not limited to physical torture, but also extend to financial extortion and the exploitation of prisoners' families by demanding sums of money to allow the entry of medicine or clothing, or to facilitate visits. Moreover, there are serious allegations regarding violations against detained children and juveniles, or those accompanying their mothers inside some prisons.
The report stressed that the exacerbation of violations inside Iraqi prisons is also linked to the shrinking space for public freedoms and the increasing restrictions on journalists and human rights defenders. This limits the ability to uncover or document violations independently, contributing to their continuation away from societal and media scrutiny.
The Observatory emphasized that the continuity of prison deaths in this manner represents a flagrant violation of the right to life and of Iraq's international obligations under international conventions and treaties against torture and for the protection of detainees.
The Observatory called on the Iraqi government to take urgent measures to address the humanitarian crisis inside prisons. This should begin with reducing overcrowding, improving health and service conditions, ensuring detainees' access to medical care and lawyers, and ending torture and ill-treatment practices across all detention centers.
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights affirmed that the absence of a Board of Commissioners for the High Commission for Human Rights weakens oversight over prisons, increases violations, and fosters impunity.
It also demanded intensified pressure and monitoring regarding the Iraqi prison file, allowing international and local monitoring missions to visit prisons regularly and without restrictions, and working to document violations to ensure the protection of detainees and halt the policy of impunity.
