UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW (UPR) STAKEHOLDER SUBMISSIONS MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP INTERNATIONAL

At the second UPR of Iraq in 2014, the Iraqi government agreed to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief (recommendation 201). [...] Furthermore, the Civil Status Law of 1972 holds that the religion of a child shall follow the religion of the Muslim parent and applies not only to new-borns, but also to children born before a parent converts to Islam. [...] At the second UPR of Iraq in 2014, Iraq committed itself to making efforts to guarantee the enjoyment by minorities of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the field of political life and elections (recommendations 106, 199, 203, 204, 205). [...] At the second UPR of Iraq in 2014, the Iraqi government agreed to a wide range of measures to improve security and protection of the civilian population (including recommendations 100, 101, 103, 106); to guarantee the security of religious and ethnic minorities (recommendations 61, 65, 71, 101, 164, 196, 198, 201, 202, 203); and to protect against violence against women (including recommendations. [...] The outbreak of large-scale popular protests in Basra and other Iraqi cities from July 2018 has led to a wave of violent repression of civilian activists.29 In addition to the use of excessive force against protestors on the streets, there has been a campaign of systematic death threats and premeditated assassinations.