The United Nations has warned that if the Iraqi government speeds up the execution of terrorist suspects in its jails, in the wake of the Islamic States’ (ISIS) massive bombing against Baghdad last month, it will run the risk of executing innocent people.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing on the popular Karrada shopping district in Baghdad, which left a total of 324 people dead on July 3.
The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, expressed his concern on Monday that Iraq’s desire to avenge such a heinous terrorist atrocity could lead it to mistakenly execute innocent people.
“[It is] all too easy to permit such atrocities to stoke the fires of vengeance,” al-Hussein said in a statement. “But vengeance is not justice.”
He was referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s decision to execute prisoners in Iraqi jails found guilty of charges relating to terrorism.
There are approximately 1,200 prisoners on death row in Iraq, according to the UN statement.
“Given the weakness of the Iraqi justice system, and the current environment in Iraq, I am gravely concerned that innocent people have been and may continue to be convicted and executed, resulting in gross, irreversible miscarriages of justice,” al-Hussein said.
The UN has also found “a consistent failure to respect due process and fair trial standards, including a reliance on torture to extract confessions.”
ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing on the popular Karrada shopping district in Baghdad, which left a total of 324 people dead on July 3.
The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, expressed his concern on Monday that Iraq’s desire to avenge such a heinous terrorist atrocity could lead it to mistakenly execute innocent people.
“[It is] all too easy to permit such atrocities to stoke the fires of vengeance,” al-Hussein said in a statement. “But vengeance is not justice.”
He was referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s decision to execute prisoners in Iraqi jails found guilty of charges relating to terrorism.
There are approximately 1,200 prisoners on death row in Iraq, according to the UN statement.
“Given the weakness of the Iraqi justice system, and the current environment in Iraq, I am gravely concerned that innocent people have been and may continue to be convicted and executed, resulting in gross, irreversible miscarriages of justice,” al-Hussein said.
The UN has also found “a consistent failure to respect due process and fair trial standards, including a reliance on torture to extract confessions.”
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