Iraq steps up legal fight against sectarian rhetoric
BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council on Sunday directed specialised investigative courts and public prosecutors to monitor sectarian terms and rhetoric in the media and on social media and take legal action against those who use them to inflame divisions and stir discord for political or personal gain.
The move shifts the handling of sectarian rhetoric beyond political and religious condemnation towards monitoring, investigation and potential legal accountability. Posts, videos and statements that go beyond political or ideological disagreement into incitement against a sect or insults against its religious figures and holy sites could become the subject of judicial proceedings where they meet the elements of an offence under Iraqi law.
The directive carries particular weight in a country that has experienced deadly episodes of sectarian conflict in recent years, with incitement playing a role in some of the violence. Iraqi authorities are increasingly focused on the potential for inflammatory language in a deeply polarised environment to move quickly from an online post to tensions on the streets.
The directive came a day after the State Administration Coalition, which brings together Iraq’s main political forces, met with the country’s four top state authorities and political leaders. The meeting called for sectarian rhetoric to be rejected and for those who promote it to be held accountable for violating the constitution and the law.
The timing underscores the extent to which the issue is being treated as more than a dispute between activists or religious and political figures, with sectarian rhetoric increasingly viewed as a matter affecting social peace and state stability.
The judicial move comes amid a rise in sectarian disputes on digital platforms, particularly following the circulation of videos and posts seen as insulting religious figures, triggering angry reactions and counter-accusations.
One of the most prominent incidents to spark widespread controversy in late August involved a recirculated video featuring Shi’ite religious chanter Faqid al-Mousawi. Sunni figures and groups regarded the video as insulting religious figures, prompting condemnation and legal action.
MP Nihal al-Shammari said she had filed a lawsuit against Mousawi, while Sunni groups issued statements condemning what they described as an insult and an attempt to inflame sectarian tensions.
The dispute quickly spread beyond the original video, as accounts and pages on social media reposted the material and exchanged accusations and responses. The episode highlighted one of the most serious features of sectarian rhetoric in the digital age: an isolated incident can rapidly develop into a chain of reciprocal insults between rival sectarian audiences.
Such online exchanges can amplify the risks of sectarian rhetoric, as each insult can prompt a counter-insult and each response can become fresh material for incitement.
The latest move by Chief Justice Faiq Zidan is in line with a broader approach that emphasises the judiciary’s role in protecting state institutions and public stability and preventing political or social disputes from escalating into conflicts that threaten civil peace.
In March, Zidan warned against armed factions acting independently to declare war, saying such action would violate the constitution and threaten the stability of the state and society. His comments reflected a broader view of the judiciary’s role in confronting what he considers challenges to state authority or threats to social stability through constitutional and legal mechanisms.
Zidan has also recently been linked to the issue of elections and political rhetoric. He was reported as saying that the judiciary would exclude any candidate who used sectarian rhetoric, even if that candidate had won a parliamentary seat, signalling an effort to establish legal limits on the use of sectarian divisions as an electoral tool.
The Sunday directive extends that approach by treating sectarianism not simply as unacceptable political rhetoric, but as conduct that can attract legal penalties when it crosses into incitement, insult or threats to social peace.
On August 27, Iraq’s parliament also moved towards legislation criminalising insults against religious figures and sectarian incitement, referring a proposal on the issue to its legal committee for study.
The judiciary’s directive also sends a message to political forces and public figures that using sectarian divisions to pursue political gains could carry legal consequences.
It signals that sectarian rhetoric will no longer necessarily be treated as a mere social-media dispute when it crosses into incitement and the fuelling of communal divisions.