Iraq's media commission Monday slapped a three-month suspension on the US-funded Al-Hurra TV for airing a controversial report alleging corruption in the country's powerful Sunni and Shiite religious institutions.

The 12-minute documentary broadcast on Saturday claimed that Sunni and Shiite Muslim authorities were misusing state funds and had suspicious ties to armed factions.

Iraq's Communications and Media Commission said it found the report lacking professionalism, balance, and reliable evidence.

It ordered a "suspension of Al-Hurra Iraq's license for three months and a halt to its activities until it corrects its position" and demanded that it broadcasts a formal apology.

"These steps are tantamount to a final warning to the station, and a tougher punishment will be taken in case this offence is repeated," the statement said.

Al-Hurra dismissed the criticism saying its "investigative report was fair, precise and professional".

"Throughout the preparation of the investigation, the team provided the relevant people and institutions with enough opportunities and time to respond, but they refused to do so," it said in a statement.

Founded in 2004, the channel is widely-watched in Iraq and part of the wider Al-Hurra network, which is funded by the US Congress and directed from Washington.

The controversy comes at a time of heightened tensions between Baghdad's two main allies Washington and Tehran, with pro-Iran factions ratcheting up their discourse against the US.

Al-Hurra's report prompted an avalanche of condemnations, with critics suggesting it showed the US was adopting an aggressive stance towards their country.

The Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, which was founded in 2014 by an edict from the top Shiite religious authority in Iraq Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, accused Al-Hurra of having "a hostile news policy".

Qais al-Khazaali, who heads the powerful Asaib Ahl al-Haq faction within the Hashed, slammed the report as "a dangerous indication of US foreign policy".

Iraq's Sunni religious establishment said the report was full of "lies," and said it was preparing a lawsuit against Al-Hurra.

But the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory said the media commission's decision was "rushed and illegal".

"This is the first time in five years such a quick step has been taken against a media organisation," said Observatory head Ziad Al-Ajili.

"The commission can give its opinion on the journalistic quality of a documentary, but it should have referred the case to the Iraqi judiciary," Ajili told AFP.

Graft is endemic in Iraq, which is ranked the 12th most corrupt country according to Transparency International.

While Iraqis regularly criticise government figures, it remains taboo to speak ill of the country's revered religious authorities.

UN criticises transfer of 1,600 displaced Iraqis
Baghdad (AFP) Sept 2, 2019 –

The United Nations on Monday criticised Iraqi authorities for transferring around 1,600 people from camps to their areas of origin, saying the returns could put them in danger.

The returnees, who fled violence during and after the Islamic State group's 2014 seizure of swathes of Iraq, had sought refuge at displacement camps in the northern province of Nineweh.

Since August 23, Iraqi authorities have bussed about 300 families, an estimated 1,600 people, from the three camps to their provinces of origin.

The transfers took place despite humanitarian groups' concerns that the families had no homes or access to services and may be targeted by their home communities for perceived links to IS.

The UN said Monday returnees had "expressed fears that they would be threatened upon their return, and had reportedly received threatening phone calls from community members in their areas of origin warning against return."

"Despite such concerns, security actors confiscated the (displaced people's) civil identification, informing the families that their documents would only be returned once they boarded the convoy," it said in a statement.

More than 1.6 million people remain displaced in camps, unfinished structures or rented apartments across Iraq, nearly two years after the country declared victory over IS.

The government has stressed its policy is for all those displaced to return home and for camps to be shut.

Last week, AFP journalists witnessed transfers from the Hammam al-Alil camp in Nineweh province of hundreds of Iraqis originally from Kirkuk, further south.

Women and children, some of them crying, were loaded onto buses by security forces. Some said they did not know where they were being taken.

The transfers often happened "with little notice or apparent planning," the UN's Iraq humanitarian coordinator, Marta Ruedas, said on Monday.

"I am concerned about the lack of organisation and advanced communication with affected communities and humanitarian partners," she said.

In some cases, the UN said, security forces denied families entry to camps in their home provinces, displacing them a second time.

In the worst case of violence against returnees so far, three hand grenades were thrown into the Basateen camp in Iraq's Salahaddin governorate on Sunday, a day after the arrival of 150 displaced families from Nineweh.

"The grenades caused no damage, injuries or casualties (but) are a cause of great concern for the safety of the camp residents," the UN said.

Other rights groups have already sounded the alarm, including Amnesty International, which has called the returns "premature" and urged Iraqi authorities to halt them immediately.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) called on the government to double down on reconciliation efforts to heal lingering resentment from the fight against IS.