BAGHDAD, Iraq—An Iraqi militia leader threatens to publicly execute a number of prisoners in the southern province of Dhiqar whom he says have been charged with terrorist acts across the country if judicial and government authorities delay the death sentences any further.
“We’re waiting for the government to carry out the death sentences otherwise in the coming days we will do the executions by ourselves and in public and make them an example to others,” Aws al-Khafaji, the leader of the Abulfadhil al-Abbas militia group told Rudaw.
Al-Khafaji claimed that advisors to Iraqi president Fuad Masum and the justice ministry have confirmed the death sentences.
“Delaying the executions is the cause of rise in bombings and bloodshed,” the militia leader said.
Al-Khafaji thought that hanging the prisoners would be an appropriate payback for the victims and families of 292 people who lost their lives in a massive bombing in Baghdad’s Karrada two weeks ago.
“Hanging these prisoners is revenge for the victims of the Karrada bombing,” he said. “That bloody and criminal bombing affected everyone and claimed the lives of many defenseless civilians.”
Fatima al-Ani, a consultant at the Iraqi Center collecting evidence on war crimes rejected al-Khafaji’s comments, accusing him of “exploiting people’s emotions and victims’ relatives to his own interests,”
Al-Ani went so far as to accuse al-Khafaji himself and his militia group of carrying out the Karrada bombing and that “his efforts now are only to cover up his crime and take people’s attention in the direction of terrorism.”
The prisoners in the Nasriya prison have been a controversial case in recent months, especially after comments from Saudi Arabian ambassador in Iraq and other Sunni leaders who said the inmates were victims of arbitrary arrests by militia groups and Iraqi security forces.
Al-Ani thought that the United Nations mission in Iraq must intervene against al-Khafaji’s remarks and ensure the safety of the prisoners.
In response al-Khafaji dismissed al-Ani, saying that the lives of innocent victims of terrorist acts should matter more and that “the executions will only be carried out against terrorists, those who have the blood of Iraqis on their hands,”
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