First mass execution in Iraq in years According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, 13 men were reportedly executed in the notorious Nasiriyah prison in Iraq on one morning in late December. At least 150 more men are facing imminent execution.For the first time in years, a mass execution has taken place in an Iraqi prison, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Thirteen men were executed in Nasiriyah prison on one morning in late December. At least 150 other prisoners face execution without warning if President Abdul Latif Rasheed confirms their death sentences.According to HRW, neither the convicted individuals nor their families were notified before the execution, citing a lawyer for one of the prisoners. One evening, the 13 men were announced over the prison loudspeakers, taken out of their cells, and executed the next morning. They were not allowed to call their families or lawyers beforehand.
“Appalling development”
The death penalty was reinstated in Iraq in 2004, and since then, hundreds of people have been executed. The Iraqi government has argued, among other things, that the death penalty is necessary due to the country’s poor security situation and as a deterrent against terrorists. Currently, an estimated 8,000 prisoners are on death row. Nasiriyah prison, the only facility in the country that carries out executions, is known as “The Whale” because it essentially swallows people and does not release them.
According to HRW, 41 people were executed in one operation in 2017, with an additional 38 individuals executed within three months. The last mass execution took place at the end of 2020, with the execution of 21 men. The number of death sentences and executions had decreased since then until the recent executions a few weeks ago. Sarah Leah Whitson, Iraq expert at the human rights organization, described it as an “appalling development.”
