Amnesty International Urges Halt to Executions

During the trial, several of the defendants alleged that interrogators had tortured them while they were detained incommunicado at the Directorates of Counter-Terrorism in Haditha and Hit. They said they were beaten, subjected to electric shocks and suspended by their arms until they agreed to “confess”. Some of the defendants reportedly showed the court marks on their bodies that they said were caused by torture and submitted evidence from medical examinations in support of their allegations.

The Court of Cassation upheld their death sentences in 2011.

In its assessment of the trial Amnesty International examined copies of court documents, including the verdict and medical reports, and also interviewed relatives and lawyers. In December 2012 the organization called on the Iraqi authorities to review their case, but never received a response.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty – the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment – in all cases without exception, as a violation of the right to life.

Background

Amnesty International recognizes the grave threat that armed groups continue to pose to the public security and order and the rule of law in Iraq. Hundreds of people continue to be killed every month in violent attacks by armed groups across Iraq. The organization condemns unreservedly the gross human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law that armed groups continue to commit. The Iraqi authorities have the duty and responsibility to bring perpetrators of serious human rights abuses to justice, without recourse to the death penalty. However, when doing so – the Iraqi authorities must comply at all times with Iraq’s obligations under international human rights law and protect the human rights of those they suspect or accuse of committing even the most heinous crimes. On 21 September 2013 scores of civilians were killed and injured in bomb attacks targeting mourners at a funeral in the Shi’a neighbourhood of Sadr City in Baghdad. More people died the following day in a bomb attack on Sunni mourners in Baghdad.

Iraq is one of the world's most prolific executioners, with the government alleging the death penalty to be a tool in its battle against a high level of violence by armed groups. Hundreds of prisoners are on death row. In 2012 a sharp rise in executions was recorded in Iraq making it the country with the third highest number of executions in the world for that year. At least 129 people were executed, almost twice the known total for 2011. Since the beginning of 2013 at least 73 people, including two women, have been executed.