ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 7,000 convicts were released from Kurdistan Region correctional facilities last year, a senior official reported, with continued overcrowding in prisons continuing to pose a major challenge for authorities.
Ihsan Abdulrahman Baban, the head of Kurdistan Region's correctional facilities, said at a press conference in Erbil on Tuesday that 7,152 convicts were “released and returned to their families after completing their legal sentences."
Over 8,500 convicts were admitted to adult, women’s and juvenile detention facilities in Erbil, Sulaimani and Duhok provinces in 2025, Baban reported. Nearly 10,000 family visits were facilitated for inmates.
Condition release was granted to 1,260 convicts, while 57 were freed through pardons. Authorities also approved 306 home leave permits and provided family visitation services to 9,950 inmates.
Baban said rehabilitation efforts included 400 on-site training courses and seminars for staff and convicts, along with 168 religious lectures. Drug addiction support included health services for 406 prisoners and 236 activities.
Nearly 630 convicts are currently attending schools inside correctional facilities, while inmates visited libraries a total of 73,069 times.
Ongoing overcrowding challenges
The releases come amid growing warnings from officials and human rights bodies that correctional facilities in the Kurdistan Region are operating far beyond their intended capacities.
Six correctional facilities — two each in Erbil, Sulaimani, and Duhok — designed for 3,300 inmates total are severely overcrowded and currently hold around 6,000 people.