MDE 14/016/2007
Further Information on UA 02/07 (MDE 14/001/2007, 04 January 2007) and follow-ups (MDE 14/003/2007, 15 January 2007 ; MDE 14/004/2007, 02 February 2007 and MDE 14/009/2007, 12 February 2007)
Imminent execution/possible death sentence
IRAQ Taha Yassin Ramadhan (m)
15 March 2007
On 15 March, the Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal (SICT) upheld the death sentence against former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadhan. He is likely to be executed within the next 30 days. According to the SICT’s statute, those sentenced to death cannot be pardoned by the President.
Taha Yassin Ramadhan received a life sentence on 5 November 2006 in connection with the execution of 148 people from the village of al-Dujail, north of Baghdad, after a failed attempt to assassinate the then president, Saddam Hussain, in 1982. However, on 26 December the SICT’s Appeals Chamber referred the case back to the court, requesting a harsher sentence. On 12 February the SICT sentenced him to death and referred the case back to the Appeals Chamber.
Two of Taha Yassin Ramadhan’s co-defendants, former Iraqi officials Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and ‘Awad Hamad al-Bandar, were hanged on 15 January. The third, Saddam Hussain, was hanged on 30 December.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since the reintroduction of the death penalty in Iraq in August 2004, scores of people have been sentenced to death and there has been a rapid rise in the number of executions, with at least 65 people put to death in 2006 alone, many of them after trials which may have been unfair. Under Iraqi law those sentenced to death can seek pardon from the president. However, those sentenced to death by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal cannot seek pardon from the President. This tribunal was established to bring to justice former officials suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language :
expressing concern that Taha Yassin Ramadhan is likely to be executed within 30 days, following the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal’s decision on 15 March to uphold his death sentence ;
expressing concern that the proceedings against him at the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal failed to meet international fair trial standards ;
urging the authorities to commute his death sentence ;
urging them to ensure that all trials before the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal are fair, and that the court will no longer have recourse to the death penalty.
APPEALS TO : Email addresses for the Iraqi authorities are proving unreliable. If there is no email address given, or if your email bounces, please send appeals to the authorities via the Iraqi embassy or diplomatic representative in your country, asking them to forward your appeals to :
President
Jalal Talabani
Salutation : Your Excellency
Prime Minister
Nuri Kamil al-Maliki
Salutation : Your Excellency
Minister of Justice
Hashim al-Shibli
E-mail : minister iraqi-justice.org
deputy iraqi-justice.org
Salutation : Your Excellency
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hoshyar Zebari
E-mail : press iraqmofa.net
Salutation : Your Excellency
COPIES TO :
Ambassade de la République d’Irak
Ask them to send copies to the Human Rights Minister, Wajdan Mikhail.
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 115
1050 Bruxelles
Fax : 02.374.76.15
Email : ambassade.irak skynet.be
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Communication Mars-Avril 2007
Nous rappelons aux nouveaux inscrits qu’à tout moment vous pouvez retrouver, entre autres choses, le B.A BA du participant aux actions urgentes (AU), des informations sur la genèse d’une AU, des indications sur comment écrire, comment aborder une AU, et bien d’autres précisions sur cette technique d’action chère à Amnesty, ici :
http://www.amnestyinternational.be/...
Les récentes bonnes nouvelles
République Démocratique du Congo : l’ordre illégal d’arrêter l’avocat Joseph Dunia Ruyenzi a été annulé le 23 février. Au tribunal, le procureur général de Goma, qui avait introduit le recours au nom de Maître Dunia, a cité l’Action urgente lancée par Amnesty International comme un exemple de l’indignation de la communauté internationale devant l’ordre de faire arrêter l’avocat. Joseph Dunia Ruyenzi tient à remercier les membres d’Amnesty International qui se sont mobilisés pour lui (réf : AFR 62/007/2007).
Pakistan. Samiullah Baloch a été relâché de prison le 10 décembre 2006 après plusieurs mois de détention, de torture et de cellule d’isolement pour avoir eu le malheur d’être le frère du sénateur et secrétaire à l’information du Parti national du Baloutchistan. Celui-ci a écrit aux militants d’Amnesty pour les remercier de leurs appels : « Je suis particulièrement touché par l’action d’Amnesty International en faveur de mon frère et vous remercie du fond du cœur pour votre mobilisation et vos efforts qui ont mené à sa libération. »
