Iraq: 128 people due for execution

Iraq's Presidential Council has ratified the death sentences of 128 people, who now face imminent execution.

The authorities are said to be planning to carry out the executions in batches of 20 per week.

No details have been made available by the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council regarding the individuals who face execution. It is not known whether any of the 128 include prisoners that have been transferred from the custody of US forces following the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the governments of the USA and Iraq which came into force on 01 January 2009.

The death sentences were originally passed by criminal courts in Baghdad, Basra and other cities and provinces on charges under Iraq's Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism law that include murder and kidnapping. Amnesty International fears that many may have been convicted after trials that failed to conform to international standards of fair trial.

UPDATE: 29 MAY 2009
According to Iraqi media reports, 12 more people have just had their death sentences upheld by the Cassation Court. Their cases will be referred to Iraq’s Presidential Council for ratification, after which they could be executed at any time.

Please take action now to prevent their deaths.

UPDATE: 8 MAY 2009
Amnesty has learnt that the Iraqi authorities executed 12 people on 3 May 2009. The 12 were believed to be among 128 people who had been on death row, and there are fears that more executions will follow in the coming days and weeks.

Background information

The death penalty was suspended in Iraq in 2003 while the country was under occupation by a US-led coalition. However, since its reintroduction by the Iraqi government in August 2004, hundreds of people have been sentenced to death and scores have been executed. At least 65 people were put to death in 2006 alone, many of them after unfair trials.

In 2007 at least 199 people were sentenced to death and 33 were executed, and in 2008 at least 285 people were sentenced to death and at least 34 executed. The totals could be much higher as there are no official figures for the number of prisoners facing execution and reporting of death sentences by the Iraqi press is erratic at best. The Presidential Council, which ratifies death sentences, is composed of the President and the two Vice-Presidents.

On 14 December 2008, Iraq and the USA signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which opened the way for the transfer of thousands of detainees from US to Iraqi custody and the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

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Iraq's Presidential Council has ratified the death sentences of 128 people, who now face imminent execution.

The authorities are said to be planning to carry out the executions in batches of 20 per week.

No details have been made available by the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council regarding the individuals who face execution. It is not known whether any of the 128 include prisoners that have been transferred from the custody of US forces following the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the governments of the USA and Iraq which came into force on 01 January 2009.

The death sentences were originally passed by criminal courts in Baghdad, Basra and other cities and provinces on charges under Iraq's Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism law that include murder and kidnapping. Amnesty International fears that many may have been convicted after trials that failed to conform to international standards of fair trial.

UPDATE: 29 MAY 2009
According to Iraqi media reports, 12 more people have just had their death sentences upheld by the Cassation Court. Their cases will be referred to Iraq’s Presidential Council for ratification, after which they could be executed at any time.

Please take action now to prevent their deaths.

UPDATE: 8 MAY 2009
Amnesty has learnt that the Iraqi authorities executed 12 people on 3 May 2009. The 12 were believed to be among 128 people who had been on death row, and there are fears that more executions will follow in the coming days and weeks.

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