ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq released over 140 young offenders from its prisons in August, the justice ministry announced on Thursday, adding that some of them were pardoned under the general amnesty law.
"The number of juveniles released during the month of August 2025 reached 142," the justice ministry said.
"The Juvenile Rehabilitation Department continues to perform its duties professionally and responsibly, through the careful monitoring of inmates' files and ensuring the implementation of legal and humane procedures in the release process,” the ministry said.
Twelve of the young offenders were released under the general amnesty law that was passed in January. Over 30,000 inmates have been released from prisons across Iraq under this law, according to a September report by Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council.
The amnesty law had long been a key demand of Sunni Arab political parties in Iraq, who argue that anti-terrorism laws in post-2003 Iraq disproportionately target their community. During the war against the Islamic State (ISIS), thousands of people were arrested for alleged links to the terror group, especially in Sunni areas.
The law includes a revision of the definition of “affiliation with terrorist organizations."
According to statistics from the Iraqi justice ministry, the country has 30 prisons housing some 67,000 inmates, including 1,600 foreign nationals. These figures exclude the Kurdistan Region’s prisons and detainees held by security forces and various armed groups across Iraq.