Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

is a legal penalty. It was commonly used by the government of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

(who was himself ultimately

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

), was temporarily halted after the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq that deposed Hussein, and has since been reinstated. Executions are carried out by hanging. Iraqi law states that no person over the age of 70 can be executed; however there have been instances where this provision has been violated, as was the case with

Tariq Aziz Tariq Aziz (, , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraq, Iraqi politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq from 1979 to 2003 and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Iraq), Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1983 ...

, who was sentenced to death at the age of 74. There is a guaranteed right to appeal on all such sentences. Iraqi law requires execution take place within 30 days of all legal avenues being exhausted. The last legal step, before the execution proceeds, is for the condemned to be handed a ''red card''. This is completed by an official of the court with details of the judgment and a notice that execution is imminent. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer suspended capital punishment on June 10, declaring that "the former regime used certain provisions of the penal code as a means of oppression, in violation of internationally acknowledged human rights." However, on August 8, 2004, capital punishment was reinstated in Iraq. Executions resumed in September 2005, after three men convicted of murder were executed. On March 9, 2006, an official of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council confirmed that Iraqi authorities had executed the first

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

s by hanging. Twenty-seven people, including one woman, were executed by the Iraqi government on September 6, 2006, for high crimes against civilians. On January 19, 2012, 34 people were executed in a single day. Early in October 2013, 42 people convicted of terrorism charges were hanged over the course of two days. By that date a total of 132 people had been executed in 2013. In July 2016, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi ordered the execution of all terrorists condemned in the country following the Baghdad suicide truck bombing which killed over 250 people at a mall in Karrada,

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. Iraq carried out at least 88 executions in 2016, and at least 125 in 2017. After the defeat of

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

in 2017, Iraq tried and sentenced captured terrorists to death in large numbers.

Notable executions

Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

on November 5, 2006, and was executed on December 30, 2006 at approximately 6:00 a.m. local time. During the drop there was an audible crack indicating that his neck was broken, a successful example of a long drop hanging. By contrast,

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti (; 17 February 1951 – 15 January 2007), also known as Barzan Hassan, was an Iraqi politician, diplomat and intelligence officer. He was one of three Sibling#half, half-brothers of Saddam Hussein and served as th ...

, the head of the Mukhabarat, Saddam's security agency, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge, were executed on January 15, 2007, also by the long drop method, but Barzan was decapitated by the rope at the end of his fall indicating that the drop was too long, relative to his body weight. Also, former vice-president

Taha Yassin Ramadan Taha Yassin Ramadan al-Jazrawi (; 20 February 1938 – 20 March 2007) was an Iraqi military officer and politician who served as the vice president of Iraq from March 1991 to the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 and the commander of the Pop ...

had been sentenced to life in prison on November 5, 2006, but the sentence was changed to death by hanging on February 12, 2007. He was the fourth and final man to be executed for the 1982 crimes against humanity on March 20, 2007. This time, the execution went smoothly and without obvious mistake or problem. At the Anfal genocide trial, Saddam's cousin

Ali Hassan al-Majid Colonel General Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti (; – 25 January 2010), was an Iraqi military officer and politician under Saddam Hussein who served as Defense minister, Interior minister, and chief of the General Security. He was also the ...

(aka Chemical Ali), former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed al-Tay, and former deputy Hussein Rashid Mohammed were sentenced to hang for their role in the

Al-Anfal Campaign The Anfal campaign was a counterinsurgency operation which was carried out by Ba'athist Iraq from February to September 1988 during the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted rural Kurds because its pu ...

against the Kurds on June 24, 2007. Al-Majid was sentenced to death three more times: once for the 1991 suppression of a Shi'a uprising along with Abdul-Ghani Abdul Ghafur on December 2, 2008; once for the 1999 crackdown in the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad al-Sadr on March 2, 2009; and once on January 17, 2010 for the gassing of the Kurds in 1988; he was hanged on January 25. On October 26, 2010, Saddam's top minister

was sentenced to hang for persecuting the members of rival Shi'a political parties. However, Aziz died of a heart attack on June 5, 2015, before he could be hanged. On July 14, 2011, Sultan Hashim Ahmed al-Tay and two of Saddam's half-brothers -- Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti (both condemned to death on March 11, 2009 for the role in the executions of 42 traders who were accused of manipulating

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices affect producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing and food di ...

) -- were handed over to the Iraqi authorities for execution.

References

{{Asia in topic, Capital punishment in Murder in Iraq Law of Iraq

Notable executions

See also

References