Human Rights in Iraq: Horrendous Wave of Executions

Daniela Dönges, senior human rights researcher at Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ), gave an interview with Salam Musafer from Russian Television RT. Speaking about the horrendous wave of executions in Iraq she explained that the increasingly high number after the US-invasion in 2003 is a topic of great concern to GICJ, which has warned in numerous urgent appeals, reports and statements in the Human Rights Council about the total absence of fair trial standards in Iraq and that death sentences are frequently based on confessions extracted under torture.

In view of the official justification made by the Iraqi government that all executed are terrorists Daniela Dönges warned that first-hand information obtained and documented by GICJ stood in direct opposition to such affirmations made by the Iraqi government and that only an independent and fair judiciary could decide about the innocence or guiltiness of a person. GICJ is working intensively with people on the ground, among them well-respected lawyers and experts, she said, and the Iraqi government’s efforts to justify mass executions are merely attempts to cover-up its tremendous human rights violations.

Of course GICJ has heard the Iraqi delegation in the Human Rights Council defend the horrendous execution practises by the Iraqi government under the pretext of combating terrorism, Daniela Dönges said, but one simply has to take a look at practises inside detention centres in the country and consider that the issue of torture and coerced confessions has been raised by many human rights organizations.Thanks to its many contacts inside Iraq, she unwaveringly stated, GICJ knows what is happening on the ground, and there is absolutely no doubt that there are major problems in the Iraqi judicial system after 2003, especially in view of the executions.

Confronted with the fact that the Iraqi government commonly accuses NGOs such as GICJ of working on a sectarian base, Daniela Dönges dryly stated that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay herself as well as the United nations Assistance Mission for Iraq UNAMI, who have frequently raised concerns about the flawed Iraqi judicial system and the executions carried under such circumstances, could certainly not be accused of working on a sectarian base and that the real sectarian approach is adopted by those who in a discriminatory manner accused its people for being terrorists without having the proof.

In a next step Daniela Dönges said that GICJ knew from its work on the ground that the pretext of combating terrorism is frequently used as a weapon to prosecute and oppress political opponents, but the real issue at hand is that everybody in this world, regardless of a crime, has the right to a fair trial and legal assistance. No government in the world can therefore accuse anybody of terrorism without having a proof. Only a fair and independent judiciary can do so. Unfortunately since the US-invasion in 2003 the human rights situation in Iraq is constantly deteriorating, Daniela Dönges explained, adding that GICJ is relentlessly working on restoring justice and accountability for the people in Iraq and documenting human rights violations to this end.

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