IRAQ: 6 PEOPLE EXECUTED DESPITE MORATORIUM CALLS

October 4, 2012: Iraq executed six people despite calls for a moratorium, a justice ministry official said, bringing the number of people put to death this year to at least 102, according to an AFP tally.
One of the six was among 23 inmates who were recaptured after a prison breakout in Tikrit last week, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Of the 102 prisoners who escaped from the jail north of Baghdad, 47 had been sentenced to death as members of Al-Qaeda front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, the interior ministry said at the time.
Executions this year have already far outstripped 2011, when Iraq put 68 people to death.
On Aug.27, Iraq executed 21 people in a single day.
The executions have sparked calls for a moratorium from the UN assistance mission in Iraq, from Britain, the European Union and human rights group Amnesty International.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed shock earlier this year at the number of executions, criticising the lack of transparency in court proceedings and calling for an immediate suspension of the death penalty. (Sources: AFP, 04/10/2012)