Baghdad: Iraq has executed 34 people so far
this year compared with a total of 68 who were hanged last
year, justice ministry spokesman Haidar al-Saadi said on Thursday.
This year's total includes two women and one foreigner, a
Syrian national, while last year's figure includes three women
and three foreigners -- a Tunisian, an Egyptian and a
Moroccan.
"In 2011, there were 68 people executed," Saadi said.
"All the executions were carried out by hanging, and 99
percent of those executed were sentenced for crimes related to
terrorism."
Saadi added that 34 people had been executed so far this
year, but denied allegations from the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Navi Pillay that they had all been killed on the
same day.
"They were executed in groups from the beginning of the
year," Saadi said.
On Tuesday, Pillay called for an immediate suspension of
the death penalty.
The United Nations estimates that more than 1,200 people
have been sentenced to death in Iraq since 2004, but it does
not have comprehensive statistics on executions.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 18:45