ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani announced on Thursday that the complaints and allegations against an anti-corruption committee have been referred to the public prosecution office, following an investigative report that accused the committee of multiple counts of torture and extortion during the tenure of former PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
A nine-month investigation by the Washington Post on Wednesday concluded that Iraq’s Permanent Committee to Investigate Corruption and Significant Crimes, also known as Committee 29, had used extreme methods of torture, including sexual violence, to extract pre-written confessions from former Iraqi officials and businessmen. The report relies on interviews with several of the detainees, their family members, as well as Iraqi and Western officials.
Zidane Khalaf, Sudani’s advisor for human rights, said on Thursday that the allegations against the committee have been referred to the public prosecution office “in order to take the appropriate measures in accordance with the applicable laws in force.”
Khalaf stressed that, based on the directives of the premier, all government elements and executively authorized bodies will be held accountable if proven to have implemented these “rejected” methods.
“Anyone who commits these practices will be subject to legal accountability and judicial repercussions,” read a statement from the advisor.
Led by Ahmed Abu Ragheef, a senior intelligence and investigations officer in the Ministry of Interior, Committee 29 was formed under the directive of Kadhimi in August 2020 to investigative major corruption cases.
Rampant corruption plagues all levels of the Iraqi state, and the crisis-hit country ranks 157 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's corruption perceptions index.
Iraq has often been criticized for poor prison conditions and treatment of detainees and suspects.
A report from the US State Department in April regarding the human rights situation in Iraq in 2021, said that significant violations of human rights in the country included “credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings … forced disappearances by the government; torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment by the government, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, arbitrary arrest, and detention.”
In an August 2021 report, the United Nations said that a total of 1,406 complaints of “torture or ill-treatment in places of detention” were reported by the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, of which only 18 were closed.
