Iraq Reinstates Capital Punishment

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Iraq reinstates capital punishment
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The World Today - Thursday, 18 August , 2005 12:34:00
Reporter: Michael Rowland
ELEANOR HALL: In a move which may have ominous implications for Saddam Hussein, Iraq's new Government has given the green light for the first executions to take place since the fall of the former dictator two-and-a-half years ago.

Three men will go to the gallows after being convicted of murder, rape and kidnapping. The US administration is urging the Iraqi Government to proceed with caution, and human rights groups are condemning the move.

As Washington Correspondent Michael Rowland reports.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Saddam Hussein made such liberal use of the death penalty during his 24-year reign that it was quickly suspended once the Americans took charge of the country after the 2003 invasion, but in August last year Prime Minister Iyad Allawi reinstated it and since then 34 Iraqis have been sentenced to death for a range of crimes.

Now the executions are about to begin, to the horror of human rights groups who had hoped capital punishment would be outlawed forever in Iraq.

Of most concern is the fragile nature of Iraq's judicial system. Defendants often don't get to see their lawyers before trial and judges are under pressure to impose the death penalty even though some crimes warrant a less severe form of punishment.

For its part the US, while recognizing it's Iraq's sovereign right to carry out as many executions as it wants, is nonetheless urging the country's judges to tread very carefully.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

SEAN MCCORMACK: What we expect is that any judicial process is transparent, that it is done according to the rule of law and that the rights of those accused are respected and that any judicial process as well as the law under which the judicial process is carried out meets international standards.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Saddam Hussein will be watching events very carefully. The former president is scheduled to face trial for crimes against humanity some time over the next two months. He could soon be the highest profile inmate on death row.

The return of the hangman is partly aimed at sending a message to the insurgents who are continuing to wreak havoc in Iraq. The latest series of car bombs has left 43 people dead and nearly 100 wounded.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says delays in agreeing to a draft constitution aren't helping.

DONALD RUMSFELD: The sooner that's done the fewer Iraqis that will be killed, the fewer American and Coalition forces that will be killed.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: The Chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, is in Iraq this week to get a first hand look at the challenge facing US troops. He insists America's plans in Iraq remain on track

RICHARD MYERS: I think on all… on all fronts we continue to see progress here in Iraq. The President mentioned the courage of the men and women in the US armed forces and the coalition.

I'd also like to talk about the courage of the Iraqi people, both those who are in political office here in Baghdad and throughout the provinces, those in Iraqi security forces and the courage of the Iraqi citizens who day in day out go about their business trying to make a better life for themselves, for the children, their families.

ELEANOR HALL: The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers ending Michael Rowland's report from Washington.

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IRAQ: FIRST EXECUTIONS SINCE SADDAM TO BE CARRIED OUT SOON


Baghdad, 18 August (AKI) - The first criminals to be executed in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein are set to have their death sentences carried out in the next few days after the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, is reported to have given authority to his deputy to sign the death penalties approved on 15 July by the prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari. The three men sentenced to death will be hanged in the city of Kut, said Jaafari.

The first three Iraqis to be executed after the fall of Saddam are three militants belonging to the Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna, which is allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. They were convicted of raping women and kidnapping and murdering policemen. The death sentences were handed down in May by a Iraqi tribunal and later confirmed by the country's highest court.

Talabani is said to oppose capital punishment, and opted to defer responsibility for the decision by giving his deputy the authority to sign on his behalf.

Death penalty is a controversial issue in Iraq. It was applied under Saddam's regime under law 111 of the 1969 penal code which sanctioned the death penalty for premeditated crime.

After the fall of Saddam's regime, the Iraqi Governing Council decided against the death penalty under pressure from the United States. However, to deter people from engaging in acts of violence, in August 2004, the authorities then reinstated the measure.

Following the escalation of terror attacks around the country the government is eager to show that it is taking steps against terrorism. Those in favour of the death penalty argue that the population is overwhelmingly in favour of it as a measure to curb down violence.

"The Iraqi people deeply wanted the death penalty against war criminals" said a statement from Jaafari's cabinet, issued in July. "We have 31 cases where people have been given the death penalty. They are for various crimes, not just terrorist incidents," spokeswoman Ahlam Jamil said.