IRAQ. EXECUTIONS PUT ON HOLD

March 2, 2007: efforts to stop the imminent execution of three Iraqi women seem to have had an effect, as the executions of Wassan Talib, Zainab Fadhil and Liqa Omar Muhammad have been put on hold, according to a statement.
According to information given by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the three Iraqi women will not be executed until an appeals court has ruled on their cases. This assurance came from Iraqi authorities, noted the working group.
The decision is the result of international pressure, said a statement by Hana Al Bayaty, Ian Douglas, Abdul Ilah Albayaty, Iman Saadon, Dirk Adriaensens and Ayşe Berktay, who have been active in the campaign against the executions. The campaigners stated this step taken by the Iraqi authorities is not enough, and demanded that “they be afforded all due protections under international human rights and humanitarian law.”
Talib, Fadhil and Omar Muhammad are accused of aiding the Iraqi insurgency. (Sources: Turkish Daily News, 05/03/2007)