URGENT ACTION

15 men at imminent risk of execution

Fifteen men, alleged to be members of armed groups, were sentenced to death on 16 June, only days after “confessions” by several of them were broadcast on Iraqi television. They may not have received a fair trial and are at imminent risk of execution.

The 15 men, including Ibrahim Najm ‘Abboud, Firas Hassan Fleih al-Juburi, Fadhel Ibrahim al-Juburi, Haydar Mut’eb ‘Abdel-Qader, Hikmat Fadhel Ibrahim, Sayyid Hamadi Ahmed and Sofian Jassem Mohammad were sentenced to death on 16 June by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq after “confessions” by several of them were shown on the Iraqi TV channel al-‘Iraqiya in late May and early June 2011. The 15, said to be members of armed groups in Iraq, were found guilty of murdering dozens of people, including women and children, and the rape of women and girls, including the bride, at a wedding party in a village near al-Taji, north of Baghdad, in June 2006.

Amnesty International is concerned the 15 men may not have received a fair trial according to international standards for fair trial. The televised “confessions” by some of the men may have been obtained through duress.

The men were reportedly detained for several weeks incommunicado, that is without access to their legal representatives or relatives. This increases the risk of detainees being tortured or otherwise ill-treated, including the risk of being coerced into making confessions. In addition, at least some – possibly all – of the families were not informed about the start of the trial, which also raises serious concerns. This prevented them from consulting with the defendants on the appointment of legal representatives of their own choosing, a right guaranteed under international standards for fair trial. Given the grave nature of the charges it is of particular concern that the defendants may not have had adequate legal representation. The trial is said to have lasted only a few days.

Several Iraqi government officials publicly called for the public execution of the 15 men even before the trial had been completed, which jeopardised their right to a fair trial and violates the presumption of innocence, a fundamental principle in criminal law. On 14 June 2011 the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council is reported to have said during a press conference that those detained in connection with the al-Taji wedding massacre “will be executed as soon as their death sentences are ratified by the Presidency.”

If the death sentences are upheld by the Court of Cassation, they will be submitted to the President for ratification.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Arabic or English:

• Expressing concern that the 15 people may not have received a fair trial according to international standards for fair trial;

• Calling on the authorities to ensure that concerns about violations of international standards of fair trial will be addressed and prevented in the future proceedings of this case;

• Calling on the authorities to declare an immediate moratorium on executions.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS TO THE IRAQI EMBASSY IN YOUR COUNTRY AND ADDRESSED TO THE TARGETS BELOW BEFORE 2 AUGUST 2011 TO: