TLTP
BAGHDAD
Iraq hanged 21 convicted terrorists and murders as air raids on ISIS strongholds in Diyala province intensified on Tuesday.
Since early 2018, Baghdad has put hundreds of suspected terrorists on trial and has conducted mass executions after victory was claimed over the extremists.
The hangings, conducted late on Monday, were carried out in the notorious Nasiriyah prison in the country’s south, according to an interior ministry statement. The Nasiriyah prison is known for holding former officials that belonged to the Saddam Hussein regime, which was toppled by the 2003 US-led invasion. Saddam himself was hanged in December 2006. The men had been convicted under a 2005 counter terrorism law, which carries the death penalty.
Authorities did not give details about the specific crimes, but the interior ministry statement said some of those executed were involved in two suicide attacks that killed dozens of people in the northern town of Tal Afar.
The statement gave no detail about the identity of the men who were executed.
Human rights groups have accused Iraqi of inconsistencies in the judicial process and flawed trials leading to unfair convictions.
Amnesty International and other rights groups say Iraq’s justice system is marred by massive corruption with judges who carry out rushed trials using circumstantial evidence. They also say the accused don’t receive proper defence or access to lawyers. However, Iraq says its trials are fair.
Dozens of foreign nationals who are suspected of belonging to ISIS have been tried by Iraqi courts. Of them, 11 French citizens and one Belgian national were sentenced to death. Their executions are yet to be carried out.
According to Amnesty, Iraq ranks fifth among countries that carry out death sentences. TLTP
