GICJ activities during the first week of the 25th session of the Human Rights Council 3- 7 March 2014
Oral statements delivered during the High Level Panel on the question of the Death Penalty
On March 5, 2014 Mrs. Daniela Dönges delivered an oral statement during the High Level Panel on the question of the Death Penalty. She spoke about the horrible number of executions in Iraq, which continue to rise against the international trend towards a death penalty moratorium. The rise is especially ciritcal as especially as the Iraqi judicial system is facing a major crisis following the US-invasion, she explained, and in view of the fact that the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights does not do his job and instead defends executions.
Joint Oral Statement delivered by Geneva International Centre for Justice and the International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination EAFORD) during the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, United Nations, Geneva during the Panel discussion on the question of the death penalty - 5 March 2014
Arabic
Full text of the statement
Thank you Mister President,
Ladies and Gentlemen, the application of death penalty has significantly decreased all around the world over the past decade. In 2012, 141 states have either by law or de facto abolished the death penalty, while it is still on the books in 51 countries. Since 2007, the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly called for a universal moratorium. Some countries however still favour the countertrend. Iraq is one example.
In 2013, the sad record of executions in Iraq amounted to a horrible number of 170 people, bringing the country among the top three executors of the world. The rise of executions was condemned in the strongest terms by numerous international human rights bodies, notably for the lack of fair trial standards underlying these executions. Nevertheless the Iraqi government repeatedly declared its determination to continue not only the implementation of the death penalty, but also to accelerate and facilitate other executions. Consistently in January 2014 a total of 37 people were hanged within only five days.
The majority of executions are carried out under the pretext of fighting terrorism, based on the 2005 anti-terrorism law, which provides capital punishment for a multitude of unclear crimes. The same law offers amnesty to secret informers. Such a law is by definition susceptible to misuse, especially as the Iraqi judicial system is facing a major crisis following the US-invasion. Sentences are commonly based on confessions extracted under torture, which later serve as legal grounds for executions. Strikingly often the law is thus used against political opponents.
It would now be the moral obligation and responsibility of the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights to address these issues, yet the sad reality is that the very same who only two days ago in this Council praised the Human rights efforts of the Iraqi government, said only short time ago that he considered it the government’s pious duty to unwaveringly continue executions. The international community must continue to concentrate all possible efforts and pressure governments to protect the inherent right to life, which is the supreme right from which no derogation is permitted even in time of public emergency.
Thank you
Thank you Mister President,
Ladies and Gentlemen, the application of death penalty has significantly decreased all around the world over the past decade. In 2012, 141 states have either by law or de facto abolished the death penalty, while it is still on the books in 51 countries. Since 2007, the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly called for a universal moratorium. Some countries however still favour the countertrend. Iraq is one example.
In 2013, the sad record of executions in Iraq amounted to a horrible number of 170 people, bringing the country among the top three executors of the world. The rise of executions was condemned in the strongest terms by numerous international human rights bodies, notably for the lack of fair trial standards underlying these executions. Nevertheless the Iraqi government repeatedly declared its determination to continue not only the implementation of the death penalty, but also to accelerate and facilitate other executions. Consistently in January 2014 a total of 37 people were hanged within only five days.
The majority of executions are carried out under the pretext of fighting terrorism, based on the 2005 anti-terrorism law, which provides capital punishment for a multitude of unclear crimes. The same law offers amnesty to secret informers. Such a law is by definition susceptible to misuse, especially as the Iraqi judicial system is facing a major crisis following the US-invasion. Sentences are commonly based on confessions extracted under torture, which later serve as legal grounds for executions. Strikingly often the law is thus used against political opponents.
It would now be the moral obligation and responsibility of the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights to address these issues, yet the sad reality is that the very same who only two days ago in this Council praised the Human rights efforts of the Iraqi government, said only short time ago that he considered it the government’s pious duty to unwaveringly continue executions. The international community must continue to concentrate all possible efforts and pressure governments to protect the inherent right to life, which is the supreme right from which no derogation is permitted even in time of public emergency.
Thank you
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire