Amnesty International reports that 128 prisoners in Iraq are scheduled for execution. Reports indicate the authorities intend to execute them in batches of twenty.
Executions have been increasing in Iraq at an alarming rate. It seems there is a willingness on the part of some in the international community to turn a blind eye when it comes to torture, unfair trials and executions in Iraq. These grotesque practices are counterproductive - judicial killings don't have the intended results. A suicide bomber prepared to take his or her life clearly is not going to regard capital punishment as a deterrent.
Malcolm Stewart, Amnesty's Middle East Director had this comment: "The Iraqi government said in 2004 that reinstating capital punishment would curb widespread violence in the country. The reality, however, is that violence has continued at extremely high levels and the death penalty has yet again been shown to be no deterrent.”
As to the current sentences - Iraqi supreme Judicial Council informed Amnesty that Iraq's Presidential Council had ratified the death sentences of 128 people whose sentences had been confirmed by the Cassation Court.
Amnesty:
Last year at least 285 people were sentenced to death, and at least 34 executed. In 2007 at least 199 people were sentenced to death and 33 were executed, while in 2006 at least 65 people were put to death. The actual figures could be much higher as there are no official statistics for the number of prisoners facing execution.
Some of those sentenced have been accused of crimes such as kidnapping, with reports of confessions extracted under torture during pre-trial detention.
There are also claims that some of those slated for execution are homosexual - targeted because of their sexual orientation.
Ali Hili of Iraqi LGBT said that “We have information and reports on members of our community who have been arrested and are waiting for execution for the crimes of homosexuality.’’
Mr Hili added "Raids by the Iraqi police and ministry of interior forces cost our group the disappearing and killing of 17 members working for Iraqi LGBT since 2005."
Part of the problem with identifying specific prisoners who face execution, is that Iraqi authorities have not released the identities of the condemned. This has added to the belief that these people were sentenced to death following trials that didn't meet international standards for a fair trial.
