For Iraqi justice, “terrorism”, intentional homicide, drug trafficking attract the imposition of even the ultimate punishment, which is generally carried out by hanging. Executions are authorized by presidential decrees.
Yesterday’s executions, in a prison in Nasiriyah, informally known as “Al Hut” (“the whale” in Arabic, as many Iraqis say no one comes out of its cages alive), took place two weeks after other hangings.
In that case, Amnesty International had highlighted Baghdad’s complete and “disturbing” lack of “transparency” about the executions.
Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, a security source said there had been “11 executions at al-Houth prison in Nasiriyah”, adding that all the people killed “had been convicted under Article 4 of the anti-terror law”.
A health official in Di Carr confirmed this information and added that the bodies were handed over to the health services to give them in turn “to the families” to bury them.
“All” those executed “were Iraqis”, this source added, also on condition of anonymity, clarifying that the executions were carried out under the supervision of an echelon of the Ministry of Justice.
The two sources were unable to specify what crimes the 11 were convicted of, nor confirm whether they were members of the Islamic State (IS) or al-Qaeda.
The penal code provides up to the death penalty for those who belong to “terrorist” organizations in Iraq and, for years, Iraqi courts have handed down the death penalty to hundreds of defendants.
In the past, Iraq has been strongly criticized by human rights groups for some trials, which are said to have been conducted with summary procedures, relied on the extraction of confessions by torture, or characterized by a lack of effective defense.
On 22 April, at least 11 people were hanged in Nasiriyah for “terrorism”; Amnesty International said 13 people were executed after convictions “on the basis of too vague terrorism charges”.
He called on the Iraqi government to proceed “immediately with a moratorium on executions” and to move in the direction of “abolishing the death penalty.”
11 of the 13 executed last month were said to belong to IS.
At the end of February, moreover, experts from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed “deep concern” about reports of “mass executions” in Iraq. They referred in particular to the executions of 13 prisoners in December 2023.
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