Iraq hands down death sentences to six ‘brothers’ for ISIS membership

An Iraqi court recently sentenced six brothers to death, convicted on charges of membership in the Islamic State and carrying out attacks against civilians and security forces, the country’s judiciary announced on Tuesday.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi court recently sentenced six brothers to death, convicted on charges of membership in the Islamic State and carrying out attacks against civilians and security forces, the country’s judiciary announced on Tuesday.

“[T]he Nineveh Criminal Court sentenced to death by hanging… six terrorists who are among the most dangerous criminals belonging to Da’esh [ISIS],” the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq said in a statement.

The statement explained that the individuals were “brothers” and the crimes for which they were convicted included, but were not limited to, the killing of citizens in Nineveh’s Mosul.

The six men “participated in the killing of several security forces and citizens” whose bodies they “disposed of in the al-Khosafa neighborhood.” They also “planted explosive devices” and “partook in firefights against security forces in the al-Alil district of [Nineveh].”

Since declaring military victory over the Islamic State late 2017 following a devastating three-year war, Iraq has accelerated the pace of prosecutions against suspected members of the extremist group.

Authorities have yet to disclose the number of terrorism suspects in Iraqi prisons and the number of people facing execution or life imprisonment related to terrorism charges.

International humanitarian and human rights organizations, including the United Nations and Human Rights Watch, say efforts by Iraqi authorities to speed up the implementation of death sentences could lead to the execution of innocent people, especially with the nation's poor standards of criminal justice. 

The death penalty in Iraq was suspended on June 10, 2003, but was reinstated the following year.

Editing by Nadia Riva