NGO Law Monitor: Iraq

Download PDF Version
Last updated 17 May 2012

Update: The Law on Non-Governmental Organizations in the Kurdistan Region was approved by the Parliament of Kurdistan on April 6, 2011 and signed by the President of the Kurdistan Region. Publication in the Official Gazette is now pending, but the new Law is in force. This is a significant milestone for Kurdish and Iraqi civil society which lays the groundwork for a new era in civil society / government relations in Kurdistan. For more information please see Pending NGO Legislative / Regulatory Initiatives below.

Introduction

Under the Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein, independent civil society essentially did not exist within Iraq. Nearly every civic institution that existed was affiliated with the ruling Ba’ath party and thus could not be said to be a truly “non-governmental” organization. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraq witnessed a major opening up of civic space, as thousands of new Iraqi non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were established and registered under Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 45 on Non-Govermental Organizations (2003). At first most of these NGOs were dedicated to humanitarian and relief efforts, but NGOs have since begun to focus on human rights and democratic development, elections and constitutional reform.

With the end of Coalition Provisional Authority and the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty in June 2004, Iraq's emerging civil society leaders worked with Iraqi government officials and international and domestic NGOs to advocate for the adoption of a new NGO law that would be more consistent with international law and best practices. After years of efforts, Iraqi NGOs finally achieved their goal on January 25, 2010, when the Iraqi Council of Representatives voted to approve a new Law on Non-Governmental Organizations (Law 12 of 2010) on the final day of the first post-war parliamentary session. The new NGO law was ratified by the Presidency Council on March 2, 2010 and went into effect on April 7, 2010, when it was published in the Official Gazette.

The new law is a significant improvement upon previous laws and regulations as well as the draft law first prepared by the Iraqi government in March 2009. Among other changes:

The March 2009 draft prohibited Iraqi NGOs from receiving foreign funding or from “affiliating” with any foreign entity (including the UN, the European Commission, USAID, International Red Cross/Red Crescent, etc.) without prior approval of the government. These provisions have been removed, thus enabling Iraqi NGOs to partner more efficiently with the international community on reconstruction and humanitarian assistance projects.
Under the March 2009 draft, an application for registration could be rejected for any reason. The new law requires that the denial of registration be tied to a specific provision of law.
Criminal penalties contained in the March draft have been removed, including imprisonment for up to three years for being a member of an improperly registered NGO.
Discretion to audit or inspect an NGO's office is only permissible with cause, instead of at any time and for any reason as under CPA Order 45.
Suspension of an NGO and confiscation of its property requires a court order, and can no longer be made at the discretion of government authorities as in CPA Order 45.

The Council of Representative’s approval of the new law was greeted as an enormous success by Iraqi civil society leaders and government officials, and received substantial media coverage inside and outside of Iraq.

At a Glance

Organizational Forms	Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)
Registration Body	Federal Government: NGOs Directorate (General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers) Kurdistan Regional Government: NGOs Department (General Secretariat of the Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers)
Approximate Number	6,000
Barriers to Entry	At the federal level, a Council of Ministers regulation states that registration is mandatory prior to beginning operations. Law 12 of 2010 does not contain this requirement. A coalition of Iraqi NGOs are planning to challenge the provision in court. Branches of foreign NGOs that seek to register in Iraq must provide a copy of the Iraqi nationality certificates and civil status identity cards of their Iraqi staff as well as copies of the passports and residence documents of their foreign staff.
Barriers to Activities	No legal barriers
Barriers to Speech and/or Advocacy	No legal barriers
Barriers to International Contact	No legal barriers
Barriers to Resources	No legal barriers

Key Indicators

Population	30,399,572 (July 2011 est.)
Capital	Baghdad
Type of Government	Parliamentary democracy
Life Expectancy at Birth	Male: 69.15 years Female: 72.02 years (2011 est.)
Literacy Rate	Male: 84.1% Female: 64.2% (2000 est.)
Religious Groups	Muslim 97% (Shia 60-65%, Sunni 32-37%), Christian or other 3%
Ethnic Groups	Arab 75-80%, Kurdish 15-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian, or other 5%
GDP Per Capita	$3,600 (2010 est.)

Source: The World Factbook 2011. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2011.

International Rankings

Ranking Body	Rank	Ranking Scale (best - worst possible)
UN Human Development Index	Not listed (2010)	1 – 182
World Bank Rule of Law Index	1.4 (2009)	100 – 0
World Bank Voice & Accountability Index	13.7 (2009)	100 – 0
Transparency International	175 (2010)	1 – 180
Freedom House: Freedom in the World	Status: Not Free Political Rights: 5 Civil Liberties: 6 (2010)	Free/Partly Free/Not Free 1 – 7 1 – 7
Foreign Policy: Failed States Index	Rank: 7 (2010)	177 – 1

Legal Snapshot

International and Regional Human Rights Agreements

Key International Agreements	Ratification*	Year
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)	Yes	1971
Optional Protocol to ICCPR (ICCPR-OP1)	No	--
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)	Yes	1971
Optional Protocol to ICESCR (OP-ICESCR)	No	--
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)	Yes	1970
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)	Yes	1986
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women	No	--
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)	Yes	1994
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW)	No	--
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)	No	--
Key Regional Agreements	Ratification*	Year
Arab Charter on Human Rights	Yes	2009

* Category includes ratification, accession, or succession to the treaty

Constitutional Framework

The current Constitution of Iraq was approved by a referendum that took place on October 15, 2005.

Relevant constitutional provisions include:

Article 36: The state guarantees in a way that does not violate public order and morality: (A) Freedom of expression, through all means. (B) Freedom of press, printing, advertisement, media and publication. (C) Freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration. This shall be regulated by law.
Article 37: First: The freedom of forming and joining associations and political parties is guaranteed. This will be organized by law. Second: It is prohibited to force any person to join any party, society or political entity or force him to continue his membership in it.
Article 38: The freedom of communication, and mail, telegraphic, electronic, and telephonic correspondence, and other correspondence shall be guaranteed and may not be monitored, wiretapped or disclosed except for legal and security necessity and by a judicial decision.
Article 40: Each individual has freedom of thought, conscience and belief.

National Laws and Regulations Affecting Sector

Relevant national-level laws and regulations affecting civil society include:

Federal: Law on Non-Govermental Organizations (Law 12 of 2010)
Kurdistan Regional Government: Law on Non-Govermental Organizations in the Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan Regional Government Law 1 of 2011)

Pending NGO Legislative / Regulatory Initiatives

The Law on Non-Governmental Organizations in the Kurdistan Region was approved by the Parliament of Kurdistan on April 6, 2011 and signed by the President of the Kurdistan Region. This is a significant milestone for Kurdish and Iraqi civil society which lays the groundwork for a new era in civil society / government relations in Kurdistan. Among other significant changes, the new Law on Non-Governmental Organizations in the Kurdistan Region:

Substantially improves and simplifies the process of registering an NGO. Responding to one of the key demands of Kurdish civil society, registration authority has been moved from the Ministry of the Interior to an independent NGOs Directorate under the authority of the Council of Ministers. In addition, a dated receipt must be provided to applicants at the time that a registration application is submitted, and if no decision is made within 30 days then the registration application is considered approved under the law.
Creates the conditions for NGO financial sustainability. Kurdish NGOs are allowed to obtain financial resources from a wide range of sources, including grants, economic activities, and foreign and domestic fundraising.
Removes all restrictions on the associational rights of foreign residents in Kurdistan. Foreign residents have the right to form and join Kurdish NGOs and serve on their Board of Directors. This is a significant improvement upon past practice as well as the recently passed federal Law on Non-Governmental Organizations (Law 12 of 2010), which imposes some limitations on the associational rights of foreign nationals.
Removes all criminal penalties. Kurdish NGOs are subject to administrative penalties and fines for violations of the NGO law, and disproportionate criminal penalties and prison sentences for individuals associated with NGOs have been removed.
Adds greater transparency to government funding of NGOs. In a significant departure from past practice, all Kurdistan Regional Government funding to Kurdish NGOs is required to be awarded in a competitive and transparent process.

Please help keep us informed; if you are aware of pending initiatives, write to ICNL at ngomonitor@icnl.org.

Legal Analysis

Organizational Forms

There is a single legal form available for registered, not-for-profit organizations in Iraq: the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

An NGO is defined to mean “a group of natural or legal persons that have registered and obtained legal personality according to the terms of this Law to pursue not‐for‐profit purposes" (Article 1(First) of Law 12 of 2010).

A foreign NGO is defined as "a branch of an NGO that has been established according to the laws of another country" (Article 1(Second) of Law 12 of 2010).

Public Benefit Status

NGOs are free to pursue any not-for-profit purposes. NGOs seeking to "achieve a public interest" can apply for "public utility" status (Article 17 of Law 12 of 2010). If granted, such NGOs "shall be exempted from income tax, VAT, customs duties, and sales tax" (Article 17 of Law 12 of 2010). Public utility status is granted by "a decision of the Council of Ministers based on a proposal by the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers" (Article 17 of Law 12 of 2010).

Barriers to Entry

While Law 12 of 2010 does not contain any significant barriers to entry, the Implementing Regulation passed by the Council of Ministers contains a requirement of mandatory registration for all NGOs. ICNL understands that a coalition of Iraqi NGOs are planning to challenge the provision in court.

Branches of foreign NGOs that seek to register in Iraq must provide a copy of the Iraqi nationality certificates and civil status identity cards of their Iraqi staff as well as copies of the passports and residence documents of their foreign staff (Article 25 of Law 12 of 2010). This provision has been criticized as a barrier to the registration of foreign NGOs, which may have concerns about the security of their staff if their identification information is required to be shared.

Barriers to Operational Activity

None.

Barriers to Speech / Advocacy

None.

Barriers to International Contact

None.

Barriers to Resources

None.

Reports

UN Universal Periodic Review Reports	Iraq (7th session 2010)
Reports of UN Special Rapporteurs	Report on the situation of human rights in Iraq: 2002 Report on the situation of human rights in Iraq: 2000 Iraq
USIG (United States International Grantmaking) Country Notes	Not available
U.S. State Department	Advancing Freedom and Democracy Report 2010: Iraq 2010 Human Rights Report: Iraq
Failed States Index Reports	Foreign Policy 2010 Failed States Index
IMF Country Reports	Iraq: Second Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Financing Assurances Review-Staff Report; Staff Supplement; Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Iraq, December 2008 Iraq: First Review Under the Stand-By Agreement and Financing Assurances Review Staff Report; Staff Supplement; Press Release on the Executive Board Decision; and Statement by the Executive Director for Iraq, September 2009 Iraq
International Commission of Jurists	Not available
NGO Regulation Network Reports	Not available
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Online Library	Iraq

News and Additional Resources

While we aim to maintain information that is as current as possible, we realize that situations can rapidly change. If you are aware of any additional information or inaccuracies on this page, please keep us informed; write to ICNL at ngomonitor@icnl.org.

General News

EU and UNOPS release report on Iraqi human rights work related to detainees and torture victims(April 2012)
The Programme for the Protection of Detainees and Torture Victims, funded by the EU and implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), has been working to prevent torture and protect detainees' rights in a number of ways. A 12-page booklet uses pictures, quotes, facts and figures to describe work done in an EU-funded project, including three sections on access to justice, working with prisoners and their rights, and helping victims of torture and violence. It describes how detainees in Iraq remain vulnerable to poor prison conditions and other human rights violations. In addition, individuals who have suffered torture and other forms of violence are often unable to get the psychological and medical help they need to recover.

In Iraq, concern over shrinking rights (April 2012)
The Iraqi government is debating proposed laws that would impose strict controls on freedom of speech and association, prompting fears that the authorities are playing an increasingly oppressive role in citizens’ lives. As the country settles into its new identity as a sovereign state, some Iraqis are nervous that the government is moving back toward the heavy-handed monitoring of citizens that was a hallmark of life under Saddam Hussein.