IRAQ: CALL TO HALT IMMINENT EXECUTION OF 15 MEN

November 4, 2011: the Iraqi authorities must halt the imminent execution of 15 men set to die after Eid al-Adha holiday, Amnesty International said following reports that their death sentences had been ratified by the Iraqi presidency. All 15 are said to be members of armed groups and were convicted of murdering dozens of people and raping women and girls at a wedding party in a village near al-Taji, north of Baghdad, in June 2006. They were sentenced to death on June 16, 2011, by the Central Criminal Court. (Sources: Amnesty.org.uk, 04/11/2011)