28.05.2008 - Source: Amnesty International

Appliance of death penalty (199 verdicts, 33 executions) ("Annual Report 2008") [ID 23522]

"The death penalty was used extensively, although the Human Rights Minister told the UN Human Rights Council in March that the government was working towards abolition.

At least 199 men and women were sentenced to death and at least 33 prisoners were executed. Most death sentences were passed after unfair trials by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI). Defendants complained that confessions extracted under torture were used as evidence against them and that they were not able to choose their own lawyer.

In February the Court of Cassation upheld the death sentences for aggravated murder passed against two women. Samar Sa’ad ‘Abdullah and Wassan Talib were, respectively, sentenced to death by the Criminal Court of al-Karkh in August 2005, and the CCCI in Baghdad in August 2006.

In May, six men – Moazzea Abdul-Khazal, Hussain Jihad Hassan, ‘Abdel-Qader Qasim Jameel, Mostafa Mahmoud Isma’il, Qais Habib Aslem and Islam Mostafa ‘Abdel-Sattar – were sentenced to death by the CCCI for the abduction and killing of a man in the Baghdad district of al-Adhamiya. It was not known if they were executed."

Document(s): Open document

10.2007 - Source: Amnesty International

Report on reintroduction of the death penalty 2004 (more than 300 people have been sentenced to death and more than 100 executed) ("The death penalty in Iraq - an instrument of injustice") [ID 21752]

Document(s): Open document

16.01.2007 - Source: BBC News

UN and EU leaders criticise the executions in Baghdad of 2 of Saddam Hussein's top aides ("Criticism of Iraq hangings grows") [ID 18645]

Document(s): Open document

15.01.2007 - Source: Guardian

Former dicator's half brother and former head of Iraq's revolutionary court hanged before dawn, two weeks and two days after his own execution ("Saddam's top aides hanged") [ID 18646]

Document(s): Open document

07.01.2007 - Source: BBC News

The executions of two aides of ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will go ahead this week, the government says ("Saddam aides 'to die this week'") [ID 19145]

Document(s): Open document

20.12.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Reportedly execution of 13 prisoners on 19 December 2006; they were convicted of murder, rape and torture ("More executions "no remedy" for worsening security") [ID 18060]

Document(s): Open document

16.11.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Awraz Abdel Aziz Mahmoud Sa’eed, sentenced in connection with attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad on 19 August 2003, is facing imminent execution; death penalty reinstated by interim government 2004 ("Urgent Action 306/06 [MDE 14/041/2006]") [ID 19225]

"The interim government of Iraq reinstated the death penalty in August 2004, for crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and kidnapping. They justified this as a response to the deteriorating security situation. Before he was selected as President in April 2005, Jalal Talabani had declared that he was opposed to the use of the death penalty, in interviews with national and international media."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2005 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Death penalty being used to control violence ("original document (English)") [ID 10439]

"International human rights organisations have raised concern over the Iraqi prime ministers’ recent announcement that the death penalty would be implemented as a way to control ongoing violence and insurgency in the country.

“It’s true that they have been having serious security problems in the country but the death penalty certainly is not appropriate. What they are doing is just suppressing human rights in the country. We are against this decision,” Middle East spokeswoman for Amnesty International (AI), Nicole Choueiry, told IRIN from their London headquarters.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, announced on 16 May in Baghdad that the death sentence would be retained and that the new government would be prepared to use it. He added that insurgents were trying to start open warfare between Shi'ites and Sunnis.

Iraq's interim government reinstated the death penalty for crimes including murder, kidnapping and drug running in August 2004. Al-Jaafari vowed to concentrate efforts on anyone targeting Shi’ites and Sunnis."

Document(s): original document (English)

23.05.2005 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Death penalty for three insurgents ("original document (English)") [ID 10440]

"(Azzaman) A special criminal court in Kut has sentenced three men to death for conducting "sabotage operations" in Iraq. The convicted men have been named as Bayan Ahmed Saeed, 30, a taxi driver; Uday Dawood Salman, 25, a manual labourer; and Dhafer Jasim Muhsin, 44, a butcher. They have reportedly made confessions according to which they were members of an armed group and conducted at least 20 operations against police and security forces, in addition to raping girls. The court also handed down sentences of life imprisonment to a number of foreign insurgents found guilty of illegally acquiring weapons and aiding armed groups.
(The London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)"

Document(s): original document (English)

05.04.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

Report on the use of capital punishment in 2004 (executions, abolition, moratoria and suspension of executions, commutations, use against child offenders, pregnant women, mentaly ill) ("The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2004") [#30870],  [ID 10441]

Document(s): Open document

16.12.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Death penalty back ("original document (English)") [ID 10442]

"(Addustour) ­ An official source in the Ministry of Justice said courts concerned with major crimes are authorised to impose the sentence of death according to the penalty code. The source emphasised that the death penalty was still valid. Judge Jafar Nasir from the Court of Cassation said the Coalition Provisional Authority suspended the death penalty but it is necessary to resort to it to protect the people of Iraq from crimes. (Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim al­Sheikh.)"

Document(s): original document (English)

29.11.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Minister of Justice explains "need" for death penalty ("original document") [ID 10443]

"(Azzaman) – In a meeting with the Danish Ambassador in Baghdad, Minister of Justice Malik Dohan al-Hasan said that restoration of the death penalty was due to the circumstances of Iraq. He added that the nature of life and thinking might not let northern European countries understand the need for resorting to the death penalty. So far, only ten people have been sentenced to death under the restored law, and none has actually been executed.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)"

Document(s): original document

27.09.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

DEATH PENALTY TO BE APPLIED ("original document") [ID 10444]

"DEATH PENALTY TO BE APPLIED

(Al-Bayan) - A Ministry of Justice official source said the ministerial council has decided to apply the death penalty as per Article 26 of the Transitional Administrative Law, soon after issuing it in the courts. The source added that use of the death penalty was to safeguard peoples' souls, to care for human rights, and to protect the country's internal security. The death penalty would be applied to those violating national security, committing crimes of general danger such as using chemicals or germ warfare, drug trafficking, funding terrorist actions and kidnapping.
(Al-Bayan is issued four times weekly by the Islamic Dawa Party.)"

Document(s): original document

12.08.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Iraqi interim government's decision to reinstate the death penalty ("original document") [ID 10445]

"Amnesty International (AI) has criticised the Iraqi interim government's recent decision to reinstate the death penalty, saying it will do nothing to restore security in the country.

"Amnesty does not believe that the death penalty can stop violent crime and there are studies to prove this," a spokesman for AI in London, James Dyson, told IRIN on Thursday.

"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It violates the right to life. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent," he added.

While acknowledging the deteriorating security situation in the country, along with the responsibility of the Iraqi interim government to protect its people, AI said the introduction of the death penalty was not an appropriate response. "What we do call for is a proper investigation of abuses and a fair trial to bring people to justice," he added.

AI, which works for an end to executions worldwide, has urged the interim Iraqi authority on frequent occasions not to reinstate the death penalty and to consider abolishing it on a permanent basis.

"There are signs that some Iraqi ministers may be reconsidering the move, but we have had no concrete response from them yet," Dyson said.

If the interim government of Iraq resumes executions, it will be moving sharply against the global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty, according to AI. Over half the countries in the world have now abolished it in law or practice. In the past decade, more than three countries a year on average have abolished it for all crimes.

Iraqi government officials made the announcement last Sunday, stating that capital punishment would be reinstated for a range of crimes including, murder, drug trafficking and endangering national security. Under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, executions were carried out for a wide range of misdemeanours, including opposing the regime.

The Iraqi government is standing by its decision, saying that the death penalty is needed due to present circumstances in the country and that it will only apply to particular crimes.

“A lot of people feel in these exceptional times that the death penalty will stop criminals from carrying out their activities,” Sabah Kadim, spokesman for Iraq interior minister, told IRIN in Baghdad on Thursday. “But we’re offering the stick and carrot approach to these people. If they come back into society, we will not prosecute them. We are confident that the majority of Iraqis want peace,” he added.

The move came as security incidents including kidnappings of foreigners, attacks against high-ranking Iraqi officials and insurgency within the country continue to rise."

Document(s): original document

09.08.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Interim Government of Iraq reimposed the death penalty ("Reimposition of death penalty is a step backwards") [#24563],  [ID 10446]

Document(s): Open document

06.08.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

IRAQI INTERIM GOVERNMENT REINSTATES DEATH PENALTY ("original document") [ID 10447]

"IRAQI GOVERNMENT REINSTATES DEATH PENALTY, ANNOUNCES AMNESTY LAW. The interim Iraqi government formally reinstated the death penalty on 8 August, international media reported the same day. The Coalition Provisional Authority had suspended the punishment last year. It will be implemented for a limited number of crimes, Al-Arabiyah quoted Deputy Justice Minister Bashu Ibrahim Ali and State Minister Adnan al-Janabi as saying on 8 August. Those crimes include murder, abduction, and drug-related offenses."

Document(s): original document

13.08.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Capital punishment suspended on 10 June 2003 [ID 10451]

Capital punishment was suspended on 10 June 2003 by virtue of Coalition Provisional Order Number 7. Life imprisonment or such other lesser penalty as may be provided by the penal code may be applied instead. The same Order also prohibited torture and cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment and prohibited the prosecution of any person for aiding, assisting, associating with or working for Coalition forces or the CPA.

Document(s): Open document

17.06.2003 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Kurdish region: Kurdish official in Baath party accused of a triple murder and arrested by Kurdish police; the case has become a test case for post-Saddam justice ("Prosecuting the Ba'ath") [#13611],  [ID 10454]

"Twelve years ago, Hadi Hama Salih, a 28-year-old Kurdish official in Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party, allegedly murdered three of his neighbours, including a pregnant woman, in the village of Nasir, close to the Kurdish city of Suleimaniya. (...) Salih now stands accused of murder. The Sharif family say they will only be satisfied if he is executed. But although the article of Iraq's criminal code under which he has been charged carries the death penalty, it is unlikely to be applied by Kurdish authorities, who have suspended its use."

Document(s): Open document

01.04.2002 - Source: UK Home Office

Capital punishment was suspended on 10 June 2003 ("original document") [ID 10448]

"Iraq Country Report - April 2004 Capital punishment was suspended on 10 June 2003 by Coalition Provisional Order Number 7. Life imprisonment or such other lesser penalty as may be provided by the penal code could be applied instead. The same Order also prohibited torture and cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment and prohibited the prosecution of any person for aiding, assisting, associating with or working for Coalition forces or the CPA. [31b] At the end of September 2003 the IGC was reported to be pressing for the reintroduction of the death penalty and the UK and US were discussing its reintroduction [6e] but according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 26 April 2004 “It will be for an Iraqi sovereign government to decide whether to reinstate the death penalty after 30 June 2004”."

Document(s): original document