Iraqi authorities hang 14 convicts in latest mass execution

Iraqi authorities hang 14 convicts in latest mass execution

2012-02-09 20:49:45 GMT+7 (ICT)

BAGHDAD (BNO NEWS) -- Iraqi authorities executed fourteen people in a single day earlier this week, the latest in a series of mass executions after U.S. forces left the country in December, a judicial official said on Thursday.

The latest executions took place on Wednesday at an undisclosed location in Iraq, and few other details were released. A justice ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a leading militant of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) insurgent group was among those executed.

The official said those executed were convicted of terrorism and other crimes which were allegedly committed in 2006 and 2007. The latest executions bring the number of executions so far this year in Iraq to at least 65, and the judicial official said more executions are to be carried out in the coming days.

"The Iraqi government seems to have given state executioners the green light to execute at will," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said on Thursday in response to the latest mass execution. "The government needs to declare an immediate moratorium on all executions and begin an overhaul of its flawed criminal justice system."

Earlier this month, Iraq's Justice Ministry said seventeen people were executed after they were previously convicted of terrorism, armed robbery, kidnapping, and murder. It followed the execution of 34 people in late January, the largest number of confirmed executions worldwide within a single day in years.

Responding to the mass execution in January, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said she was shocked to hear the news. "Even if the most scrupulous fair trial standards were observed, this would be a terrifying number of executions to take place in a single day," she said at the time.

The United Nations believes at least 1,200 people have been sentenced to death in Iraq since 2004, but the government is reluctant to release official figures. "Given the lack of transparency in court proceedings, major concerns about due process and fairness of trials, and the very wide range of offences for which the death penalty can be imposed in Iraq, it is a truly shocking figure," Pillay added in January.

Iraq lists 48 crimes for which the death penalty can be imposed, including terrorism, kidnapping and murder. But Iraqi law also authorizes the death penalty for a number of non-fatal offenses such as damage to public property.

In January, Human Rights Watch warned that Iraq risks falling back towards authoritarian rule amid allegations that security forces have tortured detainees at a secret prison, cracked down on freedom of expression and attacked peaceful protesters as well as journalists. Executions were commonly used by the government of Saddam Hussein.

The opposition in Iraq has compared Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to a dictator as he has failed to appoint defense and interior ministers, giving him full control over those ministries. al-Maliki has also failed to appoint a minister of National Security Affairs.

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