PHR’s work in Iraq is centered on building up the country’s ability to investigate crimes of torture, including sexual violence. Our focus is support to investigations of international crimes committed by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in northern Iraq, particularly against the long-persecuted Yazidi people, who suffered a brutal 2014 attack by ISIS in which thousands of men, women, boys, and girls were killed, forced into flight, or abducted, raped, and enslaved.
PHR works with Iraqi partners at the Medical-Legal Directorate (MLD) and the Medical-Legal Institutes (MLIs) in governorates across Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to develop a standardized forensic medical form to document torture and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The Forensic Medical Form is designed to reflect international good practices including the Istanbul Protocol, the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, and the Murad Code. The form ensures that forensic medical evidence is consistently documented and used in investigations and prosecutions of the perpetrators of torture, including sexual violence.
PHR continues to work with the forensic sector to ensure accurate implementation of the forensic medical form which is built with a country-wide gradual roll-out plan. In addition, PHR continues to work with the medical and judicial and legal sectors in Iraq to strengthen survivor-centered forensic medical documentation of torture and sexual violence that ensures that survivors receive appropriate documentation, have their voices heard, and are treated with dignity and respect throughout the forensic examination process.