Iraq executes 42 people after terrorism trials

With violence mounting since April, the government has defended the death penalty as a way to face down insurgents trying to destabilise the country. More than 5,000 people have been killed over the past six months, including nearly 200 so far in October.

Human rights groups have questioned trial procedures in Iraqi courts, alleging that some verdicts are based on testimony obtained by torture.

The ministry said all 42 executed over the past two days were Iraqis convicted of “terrorist crimes, killing dozens of innocents in addition to other crimes aimed at destabilising the country, causing chaos and spreading horror”.

Judges had reviewed sentences and verdicts, it said.

Hours after the justice ministry statement, the UN mission to Iraq, UNAMI, renewed its call “to adopt a moratorium on the implementation of all death sentences”.

In 2011, Iraq was ranked fourth among the world’s top five executioners after China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US, according to Amnesty International.