UN human rights office decries 'mass hanging' of 42 in Iraq
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The office of the U.N. human rights chief is decrying the "mass hanging" of 42 prisoners at an Iraqi prison.
Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein is warning of "clear risk of a gross miscarriage of justice" over Sunday's executions at al-Hoot prison in the southern city of Nasiriyah, and expressed concerns about "more large-scale executions," possibly in coming weeks.
A statement from his office Wednesday said Iraqi officials explained the prisoners were Iraqis affiliated with the Islamic State group or al-Qaida who were convicted of crimes including killing security forces or detonating improvised explosive devices.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zeid said accountability for proven acts of terrorism was necessary, but it was "extremely doubtful" that strict fair-trial guarantees were respected in the cases as required under international law for the death penalty to be applied.