URGENT APPEAL for 11 men at imminent risk of execution in Iraq

The Iraqi presidency has ratified the sentences of 11 men sentenced to death in 2010 for their alleged involvement in causing bomb explosions in August 2009. They are at risk of imminent execution.

The 11 men were sentenced to death on 14 January 2010 by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, for their alleged involvement in bomb blasts at the Finance and Foreign Affairs Ministries, in Baghdad on 19 August 2009, which killed at least 95 and wounded over 1,000 people. The 11 include Salem ‘Abd Jassim, Wissam ‘Ali Kadhem Ibrahim, Ishaq Mohammad ‘Abbas, his brother Mostafa Mohammad ‘Abbas, Firas ‘Abdallah Fathi and ‘Assem Mazen Hussain) and five others whose identities are unknown.

Very little information is available about the trial of the 11. According to media reports, their trial was not open to the public or the media, and was completed in a very short time. Trials heard before the CCCI consistently fall short of international fair trial standards.

Amnesty International fears the execution could be imminent. In a previous case reported in 2011, 15 men were executed 24 days after their death sentences had been ratified by the Iraqi presidency. On 19 January 2012, the Iraqi state-owned Al-Iraqiya TV channel, quoting a statement by the Ministry of Justice, announced the execution, earlier the same day, of 34 people for terrorism-related offences.

Please write immediately in English or Arabic:

* Calling on the Iraqi authorities not to proceed with the executions of Salem ‘Abd Jassim, Wissam ‘Ali Kadhem Ibrahim, Ishaq Mohammad ‘Abbas, Mostafa Mohammad ‘Abbas, Firas ‘Abdallah Fathi, ‘Assem Mazen Hussain and five others;

* Expressing concern that the 11 people may not have received a fair trial according to international standards for fair trial;

* Urging the authorities to declare an imminent moratorium on executions and to commute all death sentences of people on death row;

* Insisting that, while recognizing that governments have an obligation to bring to justice those responsible for serious crimes, the death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and should not be applied even for crimes of the greatest magnitude.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 2 MARCH 2012 TO THE IRAQI REPRESENTATION IN YOUR COUNTRY AND ADDRESSED TO:

Prime Minister

Nuri Kamil al-Maliki Convention Center (Qasr al-Ma’aridh)

Baghdad,

Iraq

Salutation: Your Excellency

President

Jalal Talabani

Convention Center (Qasr al-Ma’aridh) Baghdad,

Iraq

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Minister of Human Rights

Mohammad Shayaa al-Sudani

Convention Centre (Qasr al-Ma’aridh) Baghdad,

Iraq

Salutation: Your Excellency

Also send copies to:

Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, 3421 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20007

Tel: 202 742 1600 EXT 136 Fax: 1 202 333 1129

Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org, info@iraqiembassy.us

Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the above date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The death penalty has been used very extensively in Iraq. Hundreds of people have been sentenced to death since the death penalty was reinstated by the Iraqi government in 2004, following a one-year suspension by the then head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Paul Bremer. The government gives very little information, such as statistics, about executions. Hundreds of people are said to be under sentence of death. Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all cases because it is a violation of two fundamental human rights, as laid down in Articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the right to life and the right not to be tortured or subjected to any cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. The organization considers the death penalty to be the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned human rights abuses by armed groups in Iraq, some of which are war crimes and crimes against humanity, including kidnapping, torture and killing of civilians, and continues to call for those responsible to be brought to justice.

Name: Salem ‘Abd Jassim, Wissam ‘Ali Kadhem Ibrahim, Ishaq Mohammad ‘Abbas, his brother Mostafa Mohammad ‘Abbas, Firas ‘Abdallah Fathi and ‘Assem Mazen Hussain plus five others.

Issue(s): Risk of Imminent Execution

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network

Amnesty International USA

600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl

Washington DC 20003

Email: uan@aiusa.org

http://www.amnestyusa.org/uan

Phone: 202.509.8193

Fax: 202.675.8566

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