"3 Set to Hang as Executions Return to Iraq"

[GreenPartyVoter]

BAGHDAD - Three men convicted of dozens of rapes, kidnappings and killings in the southern city of Kut, in one case displaying the eyeballs of an Iraqi soldier to obtain payment for his murder, will be put to death by hanging in the first execution by Iraq's civilian courts since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Tuesday.

The case against the men, who acted in concert, is one of 34 in which death sentences have been handed down since the death penalty was reinstated in Iraq in August 2004. It is the first case to emerge from a mandatory review by an appeals court and be sent to Mr. Jaafari and a three-member council headed by President Jalal Talabani. The council must approve the execution before it can take place.

The combination of a shaky government eager to show that it is taking steps against terrorism and overwhelming public support for the death penalty here could make the Kut case the first of many executions in Iraq. That could include Mr. Hussein's. He is expected to go on trial within the next two months before a special tribunal for crimes against humanity.

"We know that public opinion is eagerly waiting for this," said Ghadanfar Hamood al-Jasim, the chief general prosecutor of Iraq, of the Kut case, which his office oversaw. "They are in pain and they are waiting for justice to take its course."

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0817-05.htm

[Qanisqineq]

1. Ugh

I don't agree with hangings at all but their crimes are horrendous. It's hard for me to get past the rapes and care about the hangings.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Acutally, I think our point should be that we have let the country

gte to this point of lawlessness. Then we can talk about capital punishment after making the point that ** &^%*^%$& Iraq up.