Iraq arrests 24 people for promoting banned Baath party

Iraq announced the arrest of 24 individuals on Tuesday, for allegedly promoting the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq under former dictator Saddam Hussein until the US invasion in 2003.

The National Security Agency said in a statement that 13 individuals suspected of Baath affiliations were detained with the "cooperation of citizens". 

"Following precise intelligence reports indicating promotional activities of the banned Baath Party in various regions of Iraq, the National Security Agency launched a wide-ranging campaign to investigate the matter and identify those involved, ” the statement added.

The operation extended to provinces including Anbar, Baghdad, Karbala, and Nineveh. Security forces identified and captured 11 more suspects, some of whom were seen in recorded videos praising the former Baathist regime, while others were found distributing prohibited promotional materials in public places.

Arrests were carried out under judicial orders in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 32 of 2016, which criminalised membership or promotion of the dissolved Baath Party. Earlier, Iraq's 2005 constitution banned the Baath Party.

The Baath Party ruled Iraq from 1968 until 2003, when Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in a US-led invasion on false accusations of harbouring chemical weapons.

Before this, Saddam and the Baath had brutally oppressed Iraq's Kurdish minority and Arab Shia majority, particularly after uprisings in northern and southern Iraq against his rule.

The country had also fought a bloody eight-year-war with Iran, following the Islamic Revolution there led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

The overthrow of Saddam Hussein's government ushered in the dominance of pro-Iran parties and militias which continues to this day. Arab Sunni Iraqis have suffered marginalisation and oppression, and have complained of being unfairly associated with the Baath regime.