NASIRIYAH: Iraqi authorities have hanged 11 people convicted of terrorism this week, said security and health sources on Wednesday.
Amnesty International has condemned the execution saying there was an alarming lack of transparency.
Terrorism and murder offenses are punishable by the death penalty under Iraqi law, and execution orders must be signed by the president.
A security source in Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar province told media that 11 terrorists from the outland Islamic State group were hanged at a jail in the city of Nasiriyah, under the supervision of a justice ministry team.
A local medical source also confirmed that the health department had received the dead bodies of 11 executed people.
The source on the condition of anonymity said the convicts were hanged on Monday under Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law of Iraq.
The medical official said all 11 were from Salahaddin province and the bodies of seven had been handed over to their families.
Iraqi courts award hundreds of deaths, life sentences
Iraqi courts in recent years have awarded hundreds of death and life sentences for people convicted of being members of a terrorist group, a crime that carries capital punishment irrespective of whether they had been active fighters.
Rights groups have criticized the Iraqi authorities for the hasty trials, with confessions sometimes obtained through torture.
Amnesty International in a statement on Wednesday denounced the latest hangings on vague terrorism charges.
According to the rights group, a total of 13 men were hanged on Monday, including 11 who had been convicted for their affiliation with the Islamic State militant group.
