Press releases
Iraq: execution of former Saddam officials should be halted
81 death sentences reportedly approved by President
The Iraqi authorities should halt the imminent execution of five senior officials under former president Saddam Hussain, Amnesty International said today.
The five, who were transferred from US to Iraqi custody last week, have been convicted of crimes against humanity by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal (SICT) and could be executed within a month if the Iraqi Presidency approves their sentences. A Ministry of Justice official told Iraqi media that he expected the ratification of the death sentences within days.
Amnesty has questioned the fairness of trials before the SICT, which was established to try Saddam Hussain and others accused of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during his rule. The court has been subject to repeated political interference undermining its independence.
Watban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, former Minister of Interior, and Sab’awi Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, former Head of Intelligence - both half brothers of ex-President Saddam Hussain - were sentenced to death in 2009 after being convicted of crimes against humanity.
Senior army and security officials Sultan Hashem Ahmad and Hussain Rashid al-Tikriti were sentenced to death in 2007 after being convicted of participation in the so-called Anfal campaign against Iraq’s Kurdish minority in 1988 in which some 180,000 Iraqi Kurds died. The fifth man, ‘Aziz Saleh Nu’man, a senior Ba’ath party official, was sentenced to death last month for his role in the brutal suppression of the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussain by the Shi’a community in southern Iraq.
The five were among a group of 206 “high value” detainees and prisoners handed over to the Iraqi authorities by the US military on 14 July.
Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Director Malcolm Smart said:
"While the Iraqi authorities have a responsibility to bring to justice those responsible for the gross human rights crimes committed under Saddam Hussain, they must not use the death penalty under any circumstances.
"It is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
"These men must not be executed. The Iraqi authorities should commute these and all other death sentences and declare an immediate moratorium on executions."
In a letter to the Iraqi Minister for Justice last month, Amnesty raised concern at Iraqi news reports that the Iraqi Presidency had approved 81 out of a total of 516 death sentences submitted for ratification since 2009. According to other news reports, a further 20 sentences were referred for ratification on 14 June alone.
The death penalty was suspended for a time after the US-led invasion of Iraq but restored in August 2004. Since then, hundreds of people have been sentenced to death and many have been executed.