AFRAH SHAWQI

Paris- Human rights activists have raised their voice and condemned the increase in executions in Iraq in 2024, calling for urgent comprehensive reforms in the country.

Amnesty International’s Annual Death Penalty Report revealed an alarming rise in global executions in 2024. Iraq was among six countries having significant increases in new death sentences imposed in 2024. In 2024, Iraq executed at least 63 people, constituting a four-fold increase from 2023 (at least 16) and all known executions in Iraq were for terrorism-related charges, the report said.

Iraqi security authorities do not give information about executions, calling them “secret executions,” and the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights has remained ineffective for three years.

The ineffectiveness of the commission is a “dangerous constitutional vacuum” leading to a lack of serious oversight and monitoring of human rights violations documented by international organizations, including a significant increase in the executions in Iraq, said Faten Abdul Wahid Abbas al-Hilfi, former member of the Board of Commissioners of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights.

“The ineffectiveness of the commission has led to a significant decline in human rights, an increase in murders and impunity, and the spread of torture in prisons and police stations. When the commission was active, executions could be stopped by the United Nations, in addition to the efforts of commissioners, who worked coordinately with ministries to obtain accurate numbers of executions, document them, and effectively monitor them.”

‘The lack of transparency’

The lack of transparency in Iraq regarding recorded figures for executions and death sentences makes difficult to monitor the number of executions, especially the number of the executed women, Faten al-Hilfi emphasized, adding:

“Now, we do not have any official data about the number of executions. When I was a member of the commissioner, most executions were for drugs or prostitution related charges. Most drug-related crimes are committed by men; however, women are also sentenced to death for being present at the scene although they do not commit these crimes. Unfortunately, Iraq has no law prohibiting the death penalty. When we were the members of the commission, we addressed this issue in cooperation with the United Nations.”

Iraqi human rights activist Anwar Al Khafaji believes that the rise in executions in Iraq has several reasons, one of them is Iraq’s anti-terrorism law. “Iraq has adopted sweeping laws that can lead to charges that can result in death sentences. As confirmed by human rights organizations, terrorism trials in Iraq are generally rushed, based on defendants’ confessions, often obtained under torture, and are not involved victim participation.

The lack of statistics on the number of executed women or women facing imminent execution in Iraq’s prisons pose a serious problem, Anwar Al Khafaji emphasized and said, “This data is confidential and inaccessible, violating transparency standards of the country. The ineffectiveness of the commission has led to a lack of oversight of this sensitive issue.”

Anwar Al Khafaji concluded her speech by calling on local and international human rights organizations to raise their voices against the rise in executions in Iraq.