ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s justice ministry announced on Sunday that 666 prisoners in October were released under the amended General Amnesty Law, which took effect in mid-February.  

“The total number of inmates released by Iraqi correctional departments during the month of October 2025 amounted to 390 inmates … including 666 inmates who were released based on the General Amnesty Law,” the justice ministry said in a statement.

Passed in late January, the General Amnesty Law was among the main demands of the Sunnis to join the ruling State Administration Coalition that backed Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani. It entered implementation in February after being published in the Official Gazette. 

The law redefines the concept of affiliation to terrorism, specifically for thousands of Sunnis who were arrested during the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS) when the jihadists seized large parts of Iraqi land in 2014. 

In late September, justice ministry spokesperson Ahmed Laibi asserted that the law has contributed “significantly” to reducing overcrowding in prisons across the country. 

At least 33,000 prisoners have been released under the General Amnesty Law so far, according to statistics from the Supreme Judicial Council. The number of those covered by the law has reached nearly 137,000, including “suspects against whom arrest or summons orders were issued, those on bail, and those convicted in absentia.” 

Human rights watchdogs have long criticized the “inhumane” conditions inside Iraqi prisons, citing severe overcrowding, outdated facilities, and weak public prosecution oversight.