The repatriation of Iraqi Ba‘th Party archives: Ethical and practical considerations

Abstract

The displacement of millions of Iraqi archival records to the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s generated considerable controversy about the legality and ethics of moving a country’s archival records to another country, especially during wartime. Since 2020, however, most of these records have been returned to Iraq, though digital copies remain accessible in the United States in many cases. How does the repatriation of Iraqi archival documents impact the ethical arguments for and against researchers using the digitized copies of previously displaced archives? And now that records have been returned to Iraq, how can researchers continue to safeguard the identities of individuals named within these papers? This article summarizes the history of the legal and ethical controversies surrounding displaced Iraqi archives and proposes ethical considerations for researchers of Iraq to keep in mind while engaging in scholarship.