Iraq executes 26 people for "terrorism" offenses

Iraq has hanged 26 people convicted of "terrorism" offenses, the Justice Ministry announced on Tuesday, pursuing a practice of mass executions despite international criticism.
   
All those executed on Sunday were Iraqi nationals. Among them was Adel al-Mashhadani, a "Sahwa" militia leader in Baghdad who was "famous for sectarian crimes", Justice Minister Hassan al-Shimari said in a statement on the ministry's website.
   
Sahwa (Awakening) militias are formed mostly of Sunni Muslim tribesmen who helped U.S. troops roll back an al Qaeda-led insurgency in Iraq from 2006 onwards.
   
Violence in Iraq has surged in the past year to its highest levels since the Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian bloodshed that peaked in 2006 and 2007 when tens of thousands of people were killed.
   
Iraq hanged at least 151 people in 2013, up from 129 in 2012 and 68 in 2011, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its annual world report published on Tuesday.
   
The United Nations human rights chief, Navi Pillay, has frequently condemned Iraq's mass executions as "obscene and inhuman", saying its justice system is deeply flawed.


REUTERS