September 17, 2024

Minister of Justice: UN rapporteurs adopted incorrect data on the death penalty in Iraq


Minister of Justice Khaled Shawani confirmed that UN rapporteurs adopted incorrect data on the death penalty in Iraq.

Shawani said, during a press conference: “A number of special rapporteurs and working groups in the United Nations issued an urgent appeal regarding the implementation of the death penalty in Iraq,” indicating that “these appeals include accusations against Iraq of violating human rights and targeting a specific component of Iraqi society, in addition to other accusations contained therein that have no basis in reality.”

He explained that the information relied upon by the special rapporteurs was not based on documented evidence, in addition to the fact that it did not take into account the situation in Iraq as a democratic state that respects human rights, whether in terms of texts or practical application, including the Iraqi constitution, which included a chapter on rights and freedoms framing Iraq’s commitment to human rights standards, in addition to the legal guarantees contained in Ir
aqi laws and the procedures of the executive authority that are compatible with those guarantees and subject to judicial oversight.

He added that “what was stated in the urgent appeal did not take into account the circumstances that Iraq went through as the first line of defense of global stability in the face of terrorism in the most severe attack that the world was exposed to, and its theater was all Iraqi lands without exception,” noting that “the reports of international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the reports of the United Nations in particular were and still are of interest to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and on this basis he directed the formation of a committee headed by the Minister of Justice and the membership of the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Human Rights, the Advisor to the President of the Republic, a representative of each of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a member of the House of Representatives / Human Rights Committe
e.”

Shawani confirmed, “We will submit a documented professional report to respond and clarify what the urgent appeal included the subject of the search for information.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency