Iraq: Executions will not eliminate security threats
The execution of 36 men in Iraq yesterday marks an alarming rise in the authorities’ use of the death penalty in response to the dramatic security threats the country is facing, said Amnesty International today. The men were convicted over the killing of 1,700 military cadets at Speicher military camp near Trikrit in June 2014, […]Amnesty International reports:
The execution of 36 men in Iraq yesterday marks an alarming rise in the authorities’ use of the death penalty in response to the dramatic security threats the country is facing, said Amnesty International today.
The men were convicted over the killing of 1,700 military cadets at Speicher military camp near Trikrit in June 2014, after a deeply-flawed mass trial which lasted only a few hours, and relied on “confessions” extracted under torture.
Amnesty International is calling on the Iraqi authorities to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Pending abolition, Parliament should remove the death penalty from legislation and respect all international standards applying to the use of the death penalty.
