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Amnesty condemns Iraq executions Amnesty condemns Iraq executions
(about 3 hours later)
Iraq is now the world's fourth highest user of the death penalty, human rights group Amnesty International has said.Iraq is now the world's fourth highest user of the death penalty, human rights group Amnesty International has said.
More than 270 people have been sentenced to death since mid-2004 and at least 100 of them have been executed, the report said. At least 270 people have been sentenced to death since mid-2004, often after unfair trials the report says, and more than 100 people have been hanged.
Only China, Iran and Pakistan used the death penalty more frequently.Only China, Iran and Pakistan used the death penalty more frequently.
Iraq suspended its use of the sentence after Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, but reintroduced the penalty as a deadly insurgency gripped the country. Iraq's US-led occupiers suspended the death penalty after Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, but it was reintroduced by the first interim government.
The former Iraqi leader was himself executed in December. The former Iraqi leader was himself executed by hanging in December.
'Unfair trials' Amnesty says the reintroduction of the death penalty in Iraq goes against a global trend in which an average of three countries abolish it every year.
Amnesty said security had continued to decline despite the reintroduction of capital punishment. 'Brutalisation'
Last year, at least 65 people were executed, including two women, it said. Iraq's interim government reintroduced the death penalty in 2004 saying it would act as a deterrent in view of the grave security situation in Iraq.
"This represents a profoundly retrograde step," the report said. "One that should not be overlooked simply because far larger numbers of lives have been lost due to ongoing violence." IRAQ'S DEATH PENALTY Reintroduced in Aug 2004 by first post-Saddam interim government after 16 month suspension 2004: No executions2005: 3 executions2006: 65 executions class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6265415.stm">Questions over Iraq hangings class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/4364157.stm">Iraq 'justice' by television However, Amnesty International says the extent of violence has increased rather than diminished, and argues that the death penalty may have contributed to the brutalisation of Iraqi society.
It was entirely predictable that the restoration of the death penalty would ... perpetuate and exacerbate the abuse of human rights Amnesty International Last year, at least 65 people were executed, including two women, the report says.
Amnesty called for a moratorium on executions in Iraq, and asked that US and British forces do not hand over to the Iraqis any detainees who have been sentenced to death. Amnesty calls for a moratorium on executions in Iraq, and asked that US and British forces do not hand over to the Iraqis any detainees who have been sentenced to death.
It also said that many prisoners have been hanged after unfair trials, saying some defendants had made apparent pre-trial confessions - including on television - and later retracted them. "The clock has been turned back in Iraq and we've seen a return to large numbers of people being condemned to death and hastily executed after unfair trials," said Amnesty's UK Director Kate Allen.
Many defendants alleged that they were tortured before making the confessions, Amnesty said. The report cites several cases in which defendants were convicted after trials lasting just one or two hours, on the basis of earlier confessions which they had retracted, saying they were the result of torture.
"It was entirely predictable that the restoration of the death penalty would ... perpetuate and exacerbate the abuse of human rights and come to be seen, as in the case of Saddam Hussein's execution, as an instrument of vengeance far removed from any notions of justice," the report said. Vengeance
Many of those given death sentences appeared on an Iraqi television show, Terrorism in the Grip of Justice, which was taken off the air in late 2005 after government ruled that televising confessions was illegal.
Many of those appearing on the show bore signs of torture, the report said, and other defendants have alleged that they were tortured before making the confessions.
The report says it was entirely predictable that the restoration of the death penalty would perpetuate and exacerbate the abuse of human rights that was a feature of the former regime.
"Instead of this Saddam-like thirst for vengeance and death, the Iraqi government should be doing its utmost to reinforce respect for life," Kate Allen says.
In addition to the conditions in which executions are carried out, the Amnesty report criticises several aspects of the way the legislation has been enacted.
Safeguards such as the possibility of clemency or pardons are excluded in the Iraqi statute, while people convicted of some non-fatal crimes are given the death penalty.
This violates international law as stipulated by United Nations human rights watchdogs, the Amnesty report says.