SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Iraqi electoral body has disqualified two female lawyers from running in the upcoming elections, for allegedly violating conditions of “good conduct.” The women have previously faced backlash for their advocacy of women’s rights and opposition of pro-Iran armed groups.

Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Tuesday announced that candidate Qamar al-Samarrai has been disqualified from running in the November elections, in accordance with Article 7.3 of the amended Council of Representatives and Provincial Councils Elections Law No. 12 of 2018.

The Article states that candidates must display “good conduct, reputation, and behavior.”

A well-informed source told The New Region on Monday that Samarrai and fellow lawyer Zainab Jawad had been disqualified “due to their violation of public decency and some inappropriate statements.”

The IHEC said in a statement that Jawad had been disqualified for allegedly “not completing the nomination documents.”

Both Samarrai and Jawad are controversial figures in Iraq for their staunch advocacy of women’s rights and freedoms, criticism of Iran-affiliated armed groups, and opposition to the contentious amendments to the Personal Status Law which were passed in February.

The Personal Status Law amendments were heavily condemned by local activists and international rights watchdogs for setting back women’s rights in Iraq and potentially legalizing child marriages.

During an appearance on the Iraqi political satire show Albasheer Show alongside Jawad in September 2024, Samarrai said “This is not a personal status law; we call it the law of depriving women of their personal freedom, or the law of child rape, or the law of making women slaves.”

The amendments allow couples to choose their religious sect — Shiite or Sunni — when entering into a marriage contract. If the couple cannot agree on a sect, the husband's sect would be applied.

The Iraqi Bar Association in January terminated Samarrai’s membership, accusing her of violating professional ethics. The Federal Court of Cassation approved her dismissal in February, saying the lawyer had “insulted a judge and an employee while they were performing their duties at the courthouse by shouting, using inappropriate language, and disrespecting the court.”

In December, the Bar dismissed Jawad’s membership on similar grounds. The judiciary later reinstated Jawad, stating that the association had no right to dismiss the lawyer without summoning and investigating her.

Unconfirmed reports circulated in late June claiming that Jawad had been detained by security forces affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) upon returning to Baghdad from the Kurdistan Region.

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) at the time expressed concern over the reports, stressing that “the arrest of activists without clear judicial orders, or because of their public opinions and positions, is a clear violation of freedom of expression and civil society work, and poses a threat to the country's human rights environment.”

Jawad’s purported arrest was believed to have been in relation to a post she made on X where she slammed Iranian influence and “tattered militia remnants” in Iraq.

The IOHR in late July expressed concern over “the escalating rate of violations targeting women activists and candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” stating that the campaigns to smear Jawad’s name were not “an isolated incident,” but rather “the latest in a long line of violations women face when they raise their voices on public issues.”

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