(Beirut) – A 22-year-old man detained for drug use died in police custody in late June 2026, a day after Iraqi police removed him from a hospital in the southern city of Najaf while he was being treated for severe abdominal pain, Human Rights Watch said today. A family member of the man, Muhsin Ali Kani, said that the authorities told them to retrieve his body the following day.
The Najaf General Directorate for Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs, part of the Interior Ministry, said in a statement to local media that Kani was detained after tests confirmed drug use as well as his disclosure to doctors that he swallowed four bags containing crystal methamphetamine. It said that his condition later deteriorated and he died while being transferred back to the hospital from the police station. The directorate said that an investigative committee had been formed to examine the circumstances of the death and hold accountable anyone found negligent.
“Any death in state custody raises questions around the treatment of a detainee, but detention while receiving medical treatment should sound alarm bells,” said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Iraqi authorities should impartially investigate not only the cause of death, but also the decision to remove him from medical care and transfer him to detention despite his apparent health condition.”
The investigation into the circumstances of Kani’s death should be prompt, independent of those involved in the death, credible, and ensure accountability for any wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Rights Watch spoke to Kani’s uncle, who said that Kani went to Al-Najaf Teaching Hospital on June 25 seeking treatment because he was experiencing severe abdominal pain after swallowing four bags containing crystal methamphetamine. He said that while Kani was at the hospital, a friend called to inform the family that his condition had deteriorated, prompting Kani’s mother, brother, and uncle to go to the hospital.
The drug police arrived at the hospital and told the family that a doctor had informed them Kani was using drugs, the uncle said. A doctor at Al Hussein Medical City in Karbala, told Human Rights Watch that doctors are required to notify the police when they determine a patient is or was under the influence of drugs.
The uncle said that he asked the officers to allow Kani to complete his medical treatment before taking any action against him, and that they initially agreed. After he left the hospital, however, he said that Kani’s mother called to tell him that police had arrested Kani despite his deteriorating condition, adding that his heart rate was around 170 beats per minute, well above normal for a man that age.
The uncle said that the following day, he received a call from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate telling him to bring Kani’s identification documents. When he arrived, officers told him to go to the Health Ministry’s forensic medicine department to collect Kani’s body. Staff there informed him that members of drug police brought the body to the facility at around 10 a.m.
“My nephew walked into the hospital for treatment, but he was returned to us dead,” the uncle said.
He said he refused to receive the body until authorities opened an investigation into the incident. He said that an investigative committee from Baghdad was subsequently formed, and an autopsy was conducted before the family received the body on June 29. He said that when the family viewed the body, they observed several injuries.
Human Rights Watch provided the family’s photographs of Kani’s body and a copy of the autopsy report to an independent forensic pathology expert from Physicians for Human Rights. The expert noted “horizontal lines across the lower back” and on the left and right sides of the mid back, which “could be contusions/bruises from blows with a linear object,” but were inconclusive.
Human Rights Watch interviewed a journalist from Najaf who followed the case closely. He alleged that the police in Najaf have long been accused of torturing detainees, also documented by other human rights groups, and using a torture method locally known as al-shawaya (grill or rotisserie, in Arabic), in which detainees’ hands are tied behind their backs and they are suspended while being beaten. He also said that former detainees described other forms of physical and psychological abuse and degrading treatment in custody, although many had been unwilling to speak publicly or file complaints for fear of reprisals.
The General Directory in a July 2 statement said that the facts and official documents did not support claims circulating about the cause of death. The autopsy found two plastic-wrapped rolls and a third open roll containing white powder in Kani’s stomach, as well as a fourth wrapped roll in the upper colon cavity, noting lab tests confirmed the presence of methamphetamine in the rolls, his urine, and his stomach. The report also noted external abrasions to Kani’s wrists (“marks of handcuff restraint”), elbow, right forearm, and right knee.
The autopsy says that the cause of death was methamphetamine overdose, and that other injuries described “are superficial and could not have caused death on their own.” The independent expert agreed, noting the other injuries listed in the autopsy, including foam, conjunctive hyperemia, lip cyanosis, pulmonary congestion and edema, irritation and congestion of the stomach, and kidney congestion “are all non-specific or the result of methamphetamine toxicity.”
By removing Kani from the hospital and apparently failing to ensure his ongoing treatment, Najaf Police may have violated Kani’s right to life and health, particularly given the heightened duty of care owed to someone in state detention, including ensuring prompt access to medical attention in urgent cases, Human Rights Watch said.
This was the third reported death in state custody in Najaf in 2026, with the other two reportedly linked to abuse. The journalist that said that previous cases had resulted in criminal proceedings against members of the drug police, though the journalist did not know the status of these cases.
Iraq has intensified its crackdown on narcotics trafficking, with security forces seizing more than 1.7 tons of illicit drugs in 2026 through operations targeting domestic and cross-border smuggling networks. In May, Shafaq News reported that Iraqi courts have also imposed 42 death sentences and 357 sentences of life in prison against convicted drug traffickers so far in 2026.
The public statement by Najaf’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate, which referred to previous drug-related convictions involving members of the victim’s family, is of great concern given that criminal responsibility is individual and all persons have the presumption of innocence, Human Rights Watch said.
“A prompt, independent, and transparent investigation is essential to establish the full facts, ensure accountability for any wrongdoing, and restore public confidence in the justice system,” Coogle said.
