The Iraqi authorities must immediately halt all executions, said Amnesty International today, after at least 13 men were put to death on 22 April in Nasiriyah Central Prison, in the southern governorate of Thi Qar, following their conviction on overly broad and vague terrorism charges.
Amnesty International is concerned that many more people may have been executed in secret amid a disturbing lack of transparency regarding executions in Iraq in recent months. Security sources had previously confirmed to the media the execution of 13 men on 25 December 2023 – the first recorded mass execution since November 2020. But activists and lawyers who represent prisoners on death row told Amnesty International that scores more have been executed since 10 April adding that the authorities did not give advance notice to the prisoners or their families and lawyers.
“Iraq’s recent executions are alarming and disheartening. For years, a legacy of human rights violations and abuses have plagued Iraq’s justice system, landing thousands on death row after grossly unfair trials,” said Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International’s Iraq Researcher.
“Executions carried out after trials that don’t meet international human rights standards may amount to arbitrary deprivation of life. The Iraqi government must immediately establish an official moratorium on executions and work towards abolishing the death penalty entirely.”
Executions carried out after trials that don’t meet international human rights standards may amount to arbitrary deprivation of life. The Iraqi government must immediately establish an official moratorium on executions and work towards abolishing the death penalty entirely.
Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International’s Iraq Researcher
Out of the men executed on 22 April, 11 were convicted on the basis of their affiliation to the so-called Islamic State armed group. The lawyer of the other two men executed on 22 April told Amnesty International that they were convicted of terrorism-related offences under the Penal Code after a grossly unfair trial and had been detained since 2008. The lawyer and relatives of the two men said they were tortured and then forced to sign documents that they were not allowed to read. The lawyer said a judge later informed them that the documents were confessions and sentenced them to death. The men had applied for a re-trial due to their allegations that their confessions were obtained under torture. Amnesty International looked into documents issued in 2020 by the judicial committee in charge of reviewing these requests, which stated that a review of the cases could not be carried out as per the law because the casefiles had been lost.
“The fact that two of those executed may have been denied the opportunity of a fair trial and did not have their cases reviewed because their casefiles were lost is utterly callous and outrageous. The use of the death penalty is appalling in all circumstances, but carrying out executions after blatantly unfair trials underscores the cruelty of this injustice,” said Razaw Salihy.
“They were tortured to ‘confess’ and the authorities want to brand them as terrorists. They [authorities] lost their files and executed them like they do not matter,” their lawyer told Amnesty International.
They were tortured to ‘confess’ and the authorities want to brand them as terrorists. They [authorities] lost their files and executed them like they do not matter.
Lawyer for two of the executed men
Two lawyers told Amnesty International that as many as 150 individuals are at imminent risk of execution after President Abdul Latif Rashid reportedly ratified their death sentences. According to official court documents reviewed by Amnesty International, on 22 October 2023, the Federal Appeals Court sought the ratification of the death sentences of 51 individuals from the office of the Presidency. Over 8,000 prisoners are believed to be on death row in Iraq.
Information available to Amnesty International indicates that an unspecified number of prisoners were executed on 6 January. Further, an activist told Amnesty International that the family member of a prisoner on death row at Nasiriyah said that guards removed at least 12 prisoners from their cells in mid-April and never brought them back, and that the guards later informed the rest of the cell mates to help themselves to the belongings of the men that were taken. Amnesty International is concerned that those men may have been executed.
On 21 February, Amnesty International sent two letters to the office of the President of Iraq and the Ministry of Justice respectively, requesting information about the number of death sentences ratified, the process of ratification, the number of executions, as well as the measures taken to guarantee the basic rights of those facing execution, including due notice to prisoners, their families and their lawyers prior to execution. However, the organization has yet to receive a response.
Background
Amnesty International has consistently documented flaws in Iraq’s judicial processes that deny prisoners a fair trial. Iraq’s courts have routinely accepted torture-tainted “confessions” as evidence and sentenced individuals to death based on those confessions, and they have routinely failed to investigate allegations of torture. Defendants were either denied legal representation or given a court-appointed lawyer whom they could not meet privately. Thousands have been convicted of broad and vaguely worded terrorism-related offences.
The organization has also documented grave concerns regarding the overcrowded and inhumane conditions of detention in Nasiriyah Central Prison where individuals on death row are held, as well as allegations of torture and other ill-treatment and denial of medical care. There have been scores of deaths in custody at the prison which lawyers and relatives of those on death row told Amnesty International are a result of those conditions