Iraq’s Judiciary Vows to Bar Ex-Baathists from Parliament Ahead of Elections

INA

Iraq's The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)'s meeting.

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Iraq reaffirmed on Sunday, 27 July 2025, its commitment to strictly enforce the Accountability and Justice Law, stressing the need to prevent individuals affiliated with the fallen Ba'ath Party from securing seats in the Iraqi Parliament.

The Council confirmed in a statement that a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Faiq Zidan, with the participation of senior judicial figures. Among those in attendance were the Deputy Presidents of the Federal Court of Cassation, Judge Kazem Abbas—head of the judicial body responsible for appeals under the Accountability and Justice Law—and Judge Hassan Fouad, who leads the panel tasked with reviewing appeals against decisions issued by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC). Also present was Bassem Al-Badri, President of the Higher National Commission for Accountability and Justice, along with several commission members.

The meeting focused on reviewing Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission’s (IHEC) preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for 11 November 2025.

Participants agreed on the importance of implementing the Accountability and Justice Law with precision, and of preventing individuals with ties to the former Ba'ath regime from entering Parliament. The Council also highlighted the need for transparency in the IHEC’s procedures and cautioned against any misuse of the de-Baathification file for purposes not sanctioned by law.

The Ba'ath Party in Iraq, especially during Saddam Hussein’s rule, was responsible for grave human rights violations against its own population. Among the most notorious of these was the Anfal campaign, a genocidal military operation in the late 1980s that involved mass killings, forced displacement, and chemical attacks against the Kurdish population. 

The Ba'ath regime martyred over 180,000 Kurds, including women, children, and the elderly.

The regime also routinely suppressed dissent through arbitrary arrests, torture, and summary executions. Minority communities, including Kurds, Shiite Arabs, and others, were systematically persecuted, displaced, or expelled from their homes in efforts to consolidate power and enforce ideological control.



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