‘Alarming lack of transparency:’ Amnesty slams latest Iraq prisoner executions

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amnesty International on Tuesday slammed Iraqi authorities for an “alarming lack of transparency” over the execution of 11 prisoners on the same day for “terrorism” charges, condemning the trials for lacking due process and falling short of international standards. 

Iraqi authorities on Monday executed 11 inmates in southern Dhi Qar province’s Nasiriyah central prison on charges of “terrorism”, security sources told AFP news agency. It is the latest round of executions after 11 others were executed in the same prison on similar charges last month. 

“There is an alarming lack of transparency surrounding these executions both in terms of actual numbers of executions taking place as well as the process of guaranteeing the rights of the men being put to death,” Razaw Salihy, Iraq Researcher at Amnesty, told Rudaw English. 

The men in Nasiriya central prison, known as al-Hout, were hanged for their alleged affiliation to with the Islamic State (ISIS). At least 150 inmates in the facility are facing execution on terrorism-related charges, pending ratification from Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid.  

“Iraq’s justice system has been plagued by human rights violations. Courts have condemned thousands to death in unfair trials, based on torture tainted evidence and on vaguely worded laws,” Salihy said, worrying that the execution rate is set to rise “given the enormous number on death row” if the Iraqi president continues the ratifications. 

“Amnesty International stresses to the Iraqi authorities that any executions carried out after trials that don't meet international human rights standards may amount to arbitrary deprivation of life,” she added. 

Since the rise of ISIS in 2014, thousands of people have been detained across Iraq for suspected links to terrorist groups, including ISIS, while hundreds have been executed. The United Nations has criticized Iraq’s trials of ISIS suspects, saying proceedings have not met fair trial standards and raising concerns about allegations of torture.

Amnesty has routinely called on Iraqi authorities to halt all executions and abolish the death penalty. 

Iraq has often been criticized for poor prison conditions and harsh treatment of detainees and suspects. 

While access to data on executions in the country is limited, UN experts in January said they were “deeply concerned about the secretive nature of the implementation of the death penalty in Iraq,” after 13 men were executed on the same day in late December.

More than 8,000 are purportedly on death row in Iraq, and authorities have been repeatedly criticized for carrying out hasty trials.