REPORT CRITICISES IRAQ'S EXECUTIONS

August 31, 2009: In July 2009, at least 1,000 prisoners were believed to be on death row, including about 150 prisoners who had exhausted all means of appeal or clemency, Amnesty International reported. The courts that sentence people to death do not meet international standards, the report charged, and Iraqi authorities "provide very little information on executions, and some have been carried out secretly." It criticises the Central Criminal Court of Iraq and the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, which issue the majority of death sentences in the country. "Defendants commonly complain that 'confessions' were extracted from them under torture," the report alleges. “Defendants also complain that they are not able to choose their own defense lawyers" when they appear before the Central Criminal Court of Iraq.
On September 1, 2009, Agence Grance Presse reported a government source indicating that the number of executions being carried out may be much higher than previously thought. "There is an average of 10 executions per week because of the security situation" said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "More than 800 people are awaiting the death penalty." A police officer at Al-Adalah prison in Kadhimiya where executions are carried out said "10 to 15 executions are carried out every seven to eight days, the majority of them terrorists." (Sources: CNN, 31/08/09; AFP, 01/09/2009)