Joint Statement
Iraq: Widespread Public Alarm Over Mass Executions
While most Iraqi citizens were celebrating Eid al-Adha, human rights circles were shaken by lists of mass executions scheduled for Wednesday, June 19, 2024. This caused widespread public panic, especially after careful examination of the lists revealed that those mentioned were from specific provinces and predominantly from the Sunni sect.
On the following day, June 20, the Media and Government Communication Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Justice hurriedly issued a brief statement on their Facebook page. The statement did not deny the occurrence of the executions but claimed that the lists were fabricated and contained fictitious names, asserting that the dissemination of such news aimed to mislead public opinion.
The statement concluded, “The Ministry of Justice reiterates its full commitment to the provisions of the Constitution and the law in implementing international human rights standards concerning the execution of death sentences.”
However, this announcement failed to allay the fear and terror that had spread among many Iraqis (Sunnis), whose tens of thousands of relatives are imprisoned under the blanket accusation of terrorism. This accusation is often broadly applied to entire areas, stigmatizing tens of thousands without fair trials, which places them in the category of summary or extrajudicial executions.
Information from within prisons and detention centers confirms that these executions have taken place. Families who were preparing to visit their sons for Eid al-Adha were shocked by news of the executions. Reports indicate that executions continue in Iraq, with dozens being secretly executed from time to time. Authorities refuse to release any information about these executions, only informing families to collect the bodies of their sons for burial without any ceremonies to honor the deceased, and often demanding large sums of money from prison officials to release the bodies.
Iraq is known to extensively apply the death penalty for a wide range of actions that cannot be classified as the most serious crimes, as required by international standards for the use of the death penalty. Most death sentences are issued under Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005, which is reported to be specifically applied to Sunnis in Iraq. Many sentences are based on suspicion or unfounded accusations made by secret informants or confessions extracted under torture, which is widespread in Iraq. In most of these cases, defendants are denied access to legal representation to defend themselves against these charges, undermining the legal basis of the trial due to the lack of defense, a fundamental aspect of a fair trial.
Despite condemnations and criticisms from relevant UN bodies and reputable human rights organizations urging Iraqi authorities to meet their international obligations, the opposite is happening, with large numbers of detainees being arbitrarily deprived of their right to life.
The UN has previously requested that Iraq halt executions until the authorities can establish an effective judicial protection system and has urged Iraq to follow the procedure adopted in the Kurdistan region of suspending the death penalty. We demand that Iraqi authorities immediately halt all executions and allow a transparent review of all issued sentences before any are carried out.
The undersigned human rights organizations express their strong condemnation of this grave violation, which disregards the minimum commitments to human rights principles. We call on Iraqi authorities to issue a genuine statement regarding these executions, clarifying the legal basis for their implementation.
As institutions concerned with human rights, we declare our intention to file a complaint with the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions and pursue all legal and human rights actions to stop arbitrary and selective executions.
Signed by:
- Euro-Med Monitor for Human Rights – Brussels, Belgium
- SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties – Geneva
- Justice Human Rights Organization (JHR) – Turkey
- International Lawyers Organization
- International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
- Aid Association for Human Rights and Migration
- Brussels Court
- Association of Arab Lawyers in the United Kingdom
- Geneva International Center for Justice
- Association of Torture Victims in Geneva, Switzerland
- “My Right” Center for Supporting Rights and Freedoms
- Coalition of Defenders of Justice in Iraq
- Justice and Democracy in Iraq Organization
- Justice and Rights Without Borders (Paris)
- Solidarity for Human Rights