Iraq’s Amnesty Law: This is the Definition of Degeneration

On January 21, 2025, the Iraqi parliament voted and passed the second amendment to the General Amnesty Law No. (27) of 2016. The amended General Amnesty Law could potentially result in the release of thousands of prisoners in Iraq. Although the law states that it does not allow amnesty for perpetrators of terrorist crimes and organized crimes such as kidnappings, it leaves room for granting amnesty for persons who have been involved in ISIS activities. For instance, if a person who has previously been imprisoned for being a member of ISIS didn’t kidnap or kill, but instead “just” sold women on the slave market or participated in other activities, that person can be released.

At first glance, it seems like the Amnesty Law seeks to “strengthen Iraqi society by offering some prisoners a chance to return to society.” However, looking deeper into the amended law and its potential outcomes, it is clear that this is yet another step to exclude and weaken all non-Muslims in Iraq.
Why does no one talk about bringing the thousands of victims and survivors of the Ezidi genocide back to society? Aren’t they part of Iraqi society, who need to be welcomed and incorporated into society for lasting peace in the country? Most importantly, how does the Iraqi government think that it will be able to incorporate prisoners back into society and achieve lasting peace and stability, when by doing so, it just shows that it is okay to commit genocide and crimes against humanity? It will just signal to all terrorists that there won’t be any consequences if they commit crimes against the Iraqi minorities. One cannot ignore the idea that the long-term goal of Iraq is to annihilate all ancient minorities in Iraq and that there is impunity for those who fulfil this goal, even if a genocide is committed. The message from the Iraqi state is clear:

Ezidis, Assyrians, and other victims of ISIS, we don’t care what happened to you or your relatives and friends. We don’t care about how unfair it is. All we care about is releasing our Muslim brothers and sisters. It does not matter that it was a genocide, and it does not matter that the entire Ezidi population of the Shingal region is still scattered around the region’s IDP camps, unable to return home.

This might seem like an aggressive statement, but the voice of truth needs to point at things that no one else dares to talk about, no matter how sensitive the issue is.

The Iraqi government, police, and military forces, and all citizens of Iraq were not able to prevent and protect the minorities of Iraq. They were also, for unclear reasons, unable to bring some belated justice by prosecuting known ISIS terrorists. Is Iraq really that weak? The Iraq that fought a war with Iran for 8 years? The Iraqi army, in which thousands of Ezidis have served, defended the borders, and lost their lives? What were the military forces in the region doing when ISIS members were traveling through the country in their Toyota cars while cowardly hiding behind their masks and waving their devilish black flag?

Let us for a moment leave that part and look at what happened after the genocide.
The UNITAD mission ended in September 2024; no international tribunal has yet been created to prosecute the perpetrators. The Yezidi [Female] Survivors Law No. 8 of 2021 has not been implemented successfully, and the promised monthly salaries to the female survivors haven’t been fulfilled. Whatever the politicians in Iraq seem to be doing, helping and bringing justice to the Ezidis is definitely not on the agenda.

The truth is that Iraq and Syria visibly support their beloved terrorist members of society. It is possible that the general amnesty law will be helpful for some prisoners who were imprisoned although being innocent. However, to believe that all prisoners connected to ISIS are innocent and that they have been prosecuted on wrong grounds is just naïve. Because let’s be honest: The aim of the General Amnesty Law is to bring back Iraq to where it was. No one cares about what happened to the Ezidi people and the Christians. No one cares that the Iraqi soil is drenched in the blood of innocent people and that the screams of the victims still echo in the air. No one cares that thousands and thousands of people were killed, that thousands of Ezidi girls (now women) are still dreaming about dying to escape the horrors they have to go through every day. No one cares about how the surviving Ezidi male population are living corpses. The immediate victims of the 2014 genocide aren’t the only victims.

The genocide has left some unhealable wounds on the Ezidi people, and it hasn’t just broken one or two generations. The genocide is a bleeding wound of all Ezidis, and it is going to affect people for several generations over centuries. It seems like Iraq understands this and has decided that since nothing can heal the wounds from the genocide, they might as well just release all criminals. Because it won’t matter anyway, right?