ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Iraqi parliament’s human rights committee on Tuesday announced it was withdrawing a draft law on freedom of expression and assembly which has sparked controversy among civil society for reportedly imposing further restrictions under vague pretexts

The “Freedom of Expression, Assembly, and Peaceful Demonstration” bill has been on the Iraqi parliament’s table since late 2022, with past drafts facing pushback from rights activists raising concerns that the law restricts freedom of expression under the guise of preserving “public morals” and “public order.”

An amended version of the bill was recently drafted and included in the Iraqi parliament’s agenda for Saturday’s session. The session was ultimately adjourned due to not reaching legal quorum.

Arshad al-Salihi, head of the parliament’s human rights committee, announced during a press conference on Tuesday that the committee was withdrawing the bill, citing rights organization’s rejection of the amendments to the draft law made by the body.

Salihi stated that the bill previously contained provisions that “violated the very essence of freedom of expression and demonstration, and virtually silences voices by requiring prior approval for demonstrations and using vague and legally unregulated terms such as disturbing public order and morals, a matter the committee categorically rejected.”

He said that the committee has reworked the draft to preserve principles of peaceful assembly, adding that they were “surprised” to see civil society’s opposition to the amendments, claiming that their disapproval “stems from political motives or external pressures that have nothing to do with human rights principles.”

Salihi said that the committee was withdrawing the bill at this time, but stressed the need for such a law to regulate freedom of assembly within a legal framework to prevent “social chaos” and the recurrence of “tragedies”, referring to the brutal suppression of previous popular protest movements, namely the Tishreen protests.

Amnesty International on Friday expressed regret that “the discussions of amendments to the draft have been carried out mostly in private,” noting that rights organizations have criticized the process for lacking “transparency and inclusiveness.”

“No official draft of the law up for vote has been made public, making it difficult to assess whether it addresses the criticism it received and whether its language is adequately aligned with Iraqi legislation and international human rights law,” read the Amnesty report.

“Lawmakers must vote against or propose amendments to any laws that would add to the arsenal of tools that the authorities are already using to restrict civic space or betray Iraq’s constitutional and international commitments to protect freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” the report cited Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International’s Iraq Researcher, as saying.

Article 38 of the 2005 Iraqi constitution states: “The State shall guarantee in a way that does not violate public order and morality: 1) Freedom of expression using all means. 2) Freedom of press, printing, advertisement, media and publication. 3) Freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration, and this shall be regulated by law.”