Iraqi
Court Hands Down 22 Death Sentences In Four Weeks
By James Cogan
29 June 2007
WSWS.org
Over
the four weeks from May 6 to June 2, the Central Criminal Court in Iraq
(CCCI) sentenced 22 people to death, 21 to life imprisonment and dozens
more to terms of between 10 and 30 years. At this rate, the US-backed
Iraqi regime will order the judicial murder of well over 250 people
by the end of the year and condemn another 2,000 to lengthy prison terms.
In numerous cases, the “crimes” for which Iraqis have been
convicted were acts of war against US occupation forces.
The CCCI was created in April
2004 by the US-controlled Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) for
the specific purpose of processing Iraqi insurgents as criminals rather
than prisoners-of-war. It was kept in place by the subsequent Iraqi
“interim” and “transitional” governments, as
well as the current regime of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But neither
the US-supervised polls nor the various puppet regimes can in any way
de-legitimise armed resistance to what was an illegal US invasion and
occupation.
Under a series of orders
issued by the CPA in 2003, and the 2005 Iraqi “Terrorist Law”,
it is a crime punishable by death for Iraqis to fight, intend to fight
or even advocate fighting American and other foreign troops. The definition
of terrorism is so broad it can include any military action undertaken
by Iraqi guerillas.
Reports on the CCCI’s
sentences are posted on the web site of “Multi-National Forces-Iraq”
approximately every two weeks and then republished in the Middle Eastern
and international press. The purpose is to intimidate members of the
Iraqi insurgency and further terrorise the Iraqi population, which has
endured four years of repression under US occupation.
Executions ordered between
May 13 and June 2 included:
* On May 30, Mohammed Al
Khorshed, 29, was sentenced to death for commanding a 50-man insurgent
cell in Baqubah and conducting attacks against US-led forces.
* The same day, an “admitted
member of Al Qaeda,” Dawud Salaman Al Ubydi, was given the death
penalty for participating in the bombings of the Sheraton and Al Hamah
hotels and arranging transport for Al Qaeda operations.
* Also on May 30, 27-year-old
Faris Abdallah Alwan was sentenced to death for “serving as the
media and propaganda emir for a terrorist organisation”. He allegedly
distributed and posted “terrorist” propaganda on web sites.
* A 23-year-old Libyan and
28-year-old Saudi were sentenced to hang on May 28 on the charge they
had come to Iraq with the intent of carrying out “terrorist actions”.
The two men had only been detained in February.
Fourteen other men were sentenced
to death during this period for alleged involvement in kidnapping and
torture. Three others were given the death penalty for killing another
detainee while being held in Camp Cropper, a US-run prison near Baghdad.
From May 20 to June 2, 32
men were sentenced to between 15 and 30 years jail for “violating
CPA Order 3/2003,” which made it a crime for any Iraqi to possess
more than one AK-47 assault rifle. Seventeen more men were given between
10 years and one year for the same offence.
Weapons possession is being
used to dispatch many men to overcrowded Iraqi government prisons. On
May 13, four were sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing multiple
weapons. Between May 13 and 17, 19 men were sentenced to between 30
years and six years for illegal weapon possession.
Dozens more were given sentences
ranging from 30 years to two years between May 6 and 12. Among those
given 30 years was a 62-year-old man. On May 8, six men who were captured
after an attack on US troops were sentenced to life for weapons violations.
One man, Muhammad Mahmud,
was detained by US marines in February because “reliable sources”
had named him as the leader of an Al Qaeda cell in the Yusufiyah area.
The evidence against him consisted of one loaded pistol, an anti-occupation
tape and a fake ID.
Other lengthy prison terms
were handed down in the four-week period for possessing false passports,
belonging to an insurgent group or stealing government property.
The legal system erected
by the US occupation has been condemned repeatedly by Amnesty International
and in human rights reports regularly issued by the United Nations Assistance
Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). Prisoners are typically denied any access to
legal counsel for 60 days so they can be thoroughly interrogated. Amnesty
has documented examples of death sentences handed down against people
who claimed they had only confessed to crimes under torture.
UNAMI’s most recent
report, covering January 1 to March 30, 2007, condemned the trials.
Counsel for the defendants is generally a court-appointed lawyer, whom,
the report commented, “they have never met and who have little
or no knowledge of the substance of the charges or evidence against
their clients”.
UNAMI noted: “Proceedings
at trial are typically brief in nature, with sessions lasting on average
some 15 to 30 minutes, during which the entire trial is concluded. Deliberations
also typically do not last more than several minutes for each trial,
including in complex cases involving serious felonies resulting in sentences
of life imprisonment or the death penalty.” In some cases, convicted
people were not informed that appeals had to be lodged within 30 days
and missed the opportunity.
The Central Criminal Court
has held 2,211 such trials since April 2004, resulting in the convictions
of 1,957 people, including at least 256 death sentences. US-occupied
Iraq is now executing people at rate exceeded only by China, Iran and
Pakistan.
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