By Mohammed al-Salihi
The number of Iraqis detained temporarily without trial amounts to 26,590 people in the months that have seen an upsurge in violence and the rise of the Islamic State in the country, according to Madhat al-Mahmoud, chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council.
Mahmoud said in the same period 12,585 people were set free but did not say whether they won their freedom following a trial or for lack of evidence.
Security forces have the right to detain Iraqis on suspicion of terror even in the absence of evidence.
The new government of Prime Minster Haider Abadi has vowed to amend the country’s terror law, which Muslim Sunnis say it is mainly directed against them as most of those in detention are Sunnis.
The law has been repeatedly cited as one of the main causes for the disenchantment of Arab Sunnis and their support of the Islamic State whose militants currently control large areas of Iraq.
Mahmoud said the number prisoners spending terms in Iraqi jails after trial was 14,005.
