Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0212/02124.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 10KB | 167 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02124}
$Pretitle{385B}
$Title{Kuwait
Chapter 5.    The Death Penalty}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Amnesty International}
$Affiliation{Amnesty International}
$Subject{iraqi
kuwait
amnesty
international
looting
august
death
executed
body
penalty}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country:     Kuwait
Book:        Iraq/Occupied Kuwait Human Rights Violations Since 2 August
Author:      Amnesty International
Affiliation: Amnesty International
Date:        1990

Chapter 5.    The Death Penalty

     Within a month of the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq's Revolutionary Command
Council (RCC) had passed resolutions introducing the death penalty for three
offences: on 11 August for the hoarding of food for commercial purposes; on 14
August for looting; and on 25 August for the harbouring of Western nationals.
On 20 November, the RCC reaffirmed in a new resolution that the hoarding of
food was punishable by death, apparently in response to the growing effects of
the internationally-imposed economic sanctions on Iraq.

     In line with its usual practice, the Iraqi Government has refrained from
making public the number of people executed for these capital offences,
although some executions for looting have been officially confirmed [see
below]. In this context, it is impossible to assess the extent of the
application of the death penalty since the invasion. Furthermore, the
information available to date does not enable Amnesty International to assess
the extent to which such executions can be considered as 'judicial'. In other
words, whether the alleged offender had been granted the opportunity to defend
himself against the charges against him, including having access to a defence
lawyer, and whether his conviction had been secured following trial procedures
which met international standards for fair trial. In the context of the
widespread abuses perpetrated by Iraqi forces in Kuwait, which reveal a total
disregard for the most fundamental human rights principles, it is Amnesty
International's view that the likelihood of any alleged offender receiving a
fair trial under such circumstances is indeed remote. In arriving at this
conclusion, Amnesty International also takes into account Iraq's past and
current record vis-a-vis the conduct of trials in its own courts. The
organization has over a number of years expressed its concerns to the Iraqi
authorities about unfair trial procedures which failed to meet not only
internationally recognized standards for fair trial, but also those standards
set out in Iraq's own domestic legislation. Such deficiencies apply in death
penalty cases as well, where defendants have been repeatedly denied access to
a defence lawyer while in pre-trial detention, denied the opportunity to speak
in their own defence in court or to call witnesses on their behalf, and denied
the opportunity to appeal against a death sentence which, in many cases, had
been secured on the basis of "confessions" extracted from the defendants under
torture. The unfairness of these procedures is most apparent in trials before
Iraq's permanent and temporary (ad hoc) special courts, whose decisions by
law are final and not subject to appeal [for further details, see Amnesty
International's report entitled "The Death Penalty in Iraq: Legal Aspects",
published in June 1987]. The RCC's Resolution No. 322, which introduced the
death penalty for looting on 14 August, provided that such cases will be heard
before a special court, whose decisions are also final and not subject to
appeal.

     To date, Amnesty International has not received any information
suggesting that any death sentences have been passed or carried out on
individuals accused of hoarding food. Reports that a Kuwaiti man was executed
in early September for harbouring a Western national remain unconfirmed. The
person in question was said to be among the thousands of Kuwaiti military
personnel arrested by Iraqi forces, and may have been executed for other
reasons. At least 18 executions for looting, however, have been officially
confirmed by Iraq. The first known case was reported on 16 August, two days
after the offence became punishable by death. The body of a man said to be an
Iraqi soldier was found hanging from a crane in al-Hilali Street, opposite the
Muhafazat al-'Asima building [see Appendix D for photograph]. Initial reports
suggested he had been publicly hanged, but subsequent accounts from
eyewitnesses who saw the body indicated that he had been shot first and then
his body was later hung in public as an example to others. The following is
one such account given to Amnesty International by a Kuwaiti housewife in her
late 30s:

"I saw his body that morning [16 August], suspended from a crane near
Muhafazat al-'Asima. There was a placard round his neck which read: "This is
the punishment for those who steal the riches of the people". Another placard
with the same message was placed on the ground beneath the suspended body,
together with the goods he was supposed to have stolen. The man had been shot
first, and then his body was hung. It remained there for two or three days.
His photograph was published in al-Nida'."

     Another person, a Kuwaiti man in his late 20s, told Amnesty International
that he had been present when the body was taken down. He stated that there
were several bullet wounds on the body, suggesting that the victim had first
been executed by firing squad. The body was removed by the Red Crescent for
burial. The name of the victim is not known, and neither is it known whether
he had received any form of trial prior to execution. A former lecturer at
Kuwait University in her mid-50s remarked to Amnesty International:

"They said he was guilty of looting, but that was probably a pretext. How
can they execute him for looting when they are all looting openly? I saw
myself, on the way from Kuwait to Baghdad, fourteen lorries carrying
televisions and other electrical equipment. Maybe that person was an
honourable man who dared to say "no" to them, and was executed for it."

     According to information received by Amnesty International, the
photographs of ten other men said to: have been executed for looting were
shown on Iraqi television between 17 and 21 August. Among them were Iraqi,
Kuwaiti, Egyptian and Syrian nationals. The university lecturer (mentioned
above) told Amnesty International:

"In the days immediately after the [16 August] execution, Iraqi television
announced that others had been executed for looting. They showed their
photographs on television. I saw four or six of them. One of them was an
Egyptian national employed by the Kuwait Oil Company. A maternal cousin of
mine recognized him, but I don't recall his name. On 18 August they showed on
television the photograph of another of those executed. He was a Kuwaiti from
the al-Hajiri family, also accused of looting. I don't know his first name.
On 20 August they showed on television the photographs of other looters."

     Her account was consistent with those given by several other people
interviewed by Amnesty International, including that of a Kuwaiti
businesswoman in her late 20s. She also told Amnesty International that one of
the Kuwaitis executed was from the al-Hajiri family, that he was 17 years old
and was arrested after leaving a diwaniyya and later accused of looting.
Further confirmation that executions for looting have been carried out since
the invasion of Kuwait was provided by President Saddam Hussein in an
interview broadcast on British television on 12 November. In response to a
question on human rights violations posed by the interviewer, President Saddam
Hussein stated that:

" . . . any Iraqi from Baghdad who steals or robs from a house in the
province of Kuwait, and is caught red-handed, will be tried. Iraqi law
provides for the death penalty in a case of this kind. A number of Iraqis from
the province of Baghdad, or they may have been from the province of Basra or
maybe from other provinces, were executed because they stole from the homes of
the people in