Amnesty International Report Condemns Soaring Execution Rate In Iraq (4th Highest In World)

Source: Amnesty International UK

Iraq: New report condemns soaring execution rate
Posted: 20 April 2007

Fourth highest number of executions in the world as Iraq turns clock back

Amnesty International has condemned the soaring execution rate in Iraq as it published a new report today (20 April) showing that the country is now the world's fourth highest user of the death penalty.

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The organisation's 49-page report Unjust and unfair: the death penalty in Iraq, shows that since mid-2004 more than 270 people have been sentenced to death in Iraq, and at least 100 people executed. Last year alone at least 65 people were executed (including two women), making Iraq the fourth highest user of the penalty in the world behind only China, Iran and Pakistan. With an estimated 2.7 executions per million people, Iraq also has one of the world's highest per capita execution rates.

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Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: '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. The world witnessed the squalid spectacle of Saddam Hussain's execution at the end of last year, but dozens of other people in Iraq have also been hanged after unfair trials.'

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In the meantime, the organisation is calling on both UK and US forces to refrain from handing over to the Iraqi authorities any detainees who have been sentenced to death and to seek written guarantees that no detainee subject to handover will face execution.

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Read more: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17341

"These are just my boyOs carrying out the WILL of the 'elite' as I learned in my occult darkside cabal: THOU SHALT NOT KILL (unless you are a minion of a Connecticut yankee preppy cheerleader deserter with a 'special' christofascist destiny. So shut up and sit down."

- Commander AWOL (Skull & Boner DIVISION of Chickenhawk War Profiteers & Armageddon BoyOs)

Looks like just another total success.

Source: UN Observer

Iraqi authorities are increasingly imposing the death penalty including after pretrial televised "confessions", uninvestigated allegations of torture and unfair trials, according to a new report from Amnesty International.

Iraq has now become the country with the fourth highest number of executions after China, Iran and Pakistan.

Read more: http://www.unobserver.com/layout4.php?id=3406&blz=1

Since reinstatement of the death penalty in mid 2004, more than 270 people have been sentenced to death and at least a hundred people have been executed. The broadcast of televised "confessions" ceased in late 2005 but many of those who appeared continue to be held on death row or have been executed.

"The dramatic increase in use of this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment represents a dangerous slide into the brutal errors of the past, particularly when so many executions have come after unfair trials, televised 'confessions' and uninvestigated allegations of torture", said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "Despite official justifications of the death penalty as a deterrent, rising violence on Iraqi streets suggests that its reinstatement may simply have contributed to the brutalisation of Iraqi society."

The report, Unjust and unfair: the death penalty in Iraq, is based on Amnesty International's examination of hundreds of verdicts issued by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI), as well as the testimonies of families of those convicted and their lawyers. It also includes a detailed analysis of Iraqi laws that undermine the right to a fair trial.

The report's main findings include:
· Insufficient or no investigation of allegations of torture despite frequent reliance on "confessions" made during detention to obtain convictions for capital offences;
· Pretrial televised "confessions" and the inclusion in court of evidence identifiying the accused from witnesses who have previously seen the confession;
· Inadequate access to defence lawyers and the intimidation of lawyers including death threats and attacks;
· Vague and overly broad definition of capital offences under Iraqi law including abductions that do not involve killing and damage to public property with the aim of undermining security or stability.

pretended to be bringing democracy.

Yeah, democracy.

Exported from the U.S. at a price.
Not practiced in the U.S.
Forfeited by blinded former citizens, now officially slaves?