Italian group says executions on the rise in Iraq

[sabra]

Source: AP

Iraq is now among the world's top executioners for the first time since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein, an Italian anti-death penalty group said Saturday, reporting that the number of the country's executions rose dramatically last year.

China and Iran are still the world's top two executioners, according to the report released by Hands Off Cain and covering 2009 and the first six months of this year. The group said its estimates were based on reports by media and other rights groups, as the exact number in China and other states is kept secret.

China alone accounted for some 5,000 executions, representing 90 percent of the 5,679 capital punishments worldwide.

The Chinese figure is virtually unchanged from the previous report, though the number of executions worldwide dropped by about 50 percent.

Iran carried out 402 executions, its highest figure in a decade.

The report said Iraq put at least 77 people to death, compared with fewer than 35 in each of the two previous years.

Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug/03/italian-group-says-executions-on-the-rise-in-iraq/

[dmallind]

1. And divergences from Western preferences will continue as independence solidifies

It is far more likely that an indpendent Iraq free of any US influence let alone sponsorship, will become more draconian rather than less. It will also be more likely to become less egalitarian and less devoted to civil liberties.

That's the inevitable result of ceding influence over political and legal structures in Iraq. While the US itself has amediocre at best record on these issues, it does a decent enough job of trying to push them on others. Iraq's constituents on the other hand are predominantly more likely to favor more atavistic constructs.

I suspect executions will go way up after we are completely out of any serious political role there next year.

[Xenotime]

2. Somebody from Texas must be there teaching them how to conduct state-sanctioned murders.

[saigon68]

3. The Chimp misses his closet erections

Masturbating inn the closet as old sparky did his work