IRAQ EXECUTES 21 CONVICTED OF ‘TERRORISM’ AT NOTORIOUS NASIRIYAH PRISON

November 17, 2020:

Iraq executed 21 men convicted of “terrorism” on 16 November 2020 at the notorious Nasiriyah prison in the country’s south, medical and police sources said.
The Iraqi men from various provinces had all been convicted under a 2005 Counter-Terrorism Law, which carries the death penalty, but there were no details on their specific crimes.
They were hanged in Nasiriyah prison in Dhi Qar province, the only one in Iraq that carries out capital punishment.
It is known for holding condemned ex-officials of the Saddam Hussein regime, which was toppled by the 2003 US-led invasion. Saddam himself was hanged in December 2006.
Iraqis fearfully refer to Nasiriyah jail as Al-Hut, or the whale, a vast prison complex that “swallows people up.”
Since declaring the Daesh group defeated in late 2017, Iraq has condemned hundreds of its own citizens to death for membership of the extremist faction.
But only a small proportion of the sentences have been carried out, as they must be approved by the country’s president, currently Barham Saleh.
Police sources confirmed to AFP that Saleh had signed off on 16 November executions.
Iraq’s government has declined to provide figures on detention centers or prisoners, including how many are facing terrorism-related charges, although some studies estimate 20,000 are being held for purported Daesh links.