The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
“We are troubled by proposed amendments to legislation in Iraq which, if approved, would impose the death penalty or life imprisonment for engaging in consensual same sex relations, as well as for certain forms of adultery. We call on the members of Parliament to ensure that any legislation is fully in line with Iraq’s human rights obligations,” said spokesperson Marta Hurtado at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
This was among the issues raised, with deep concern, by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk with Iraqi authorities during his mission to Iraq in August last year, she said.
For countries which have not abolished the death penalty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iraq ratified in 1971, strictly limits the death penalty to “the most serious crimes”, which entails crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing.
“The proposed amendments are all the more alarming in the context of Iraq, given its widening use of the death penalty. More than a dozen prisoners were executed at the end of 2023, and reports have been received indicating that the execution of hundreds of prisoners has been recently authorised,” Hurtado said.
“We call on the Government to halt all planned executions and establish a moratorium on any imposition of capital punishment, with a view to its abolition,” she said.
ENDS
In Geneva:
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org
Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org
Thameen Al-Kheetan - + 41 76 223 77 62 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Marta Hurtado expressed alarm at proposed legislative changes in Iraq
TRT: 01:16
SOURCE: UNTV /OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 09 February 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior shot:
2. SOUNDBITE (English)—Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We are troubled by proposed amendments to legislation in Iraq which, if approved, would impose the death penalty or life imprisonment for engaging in consensual same sex relations, as well as for certain forms of adultery. We call on the members of Parliament to ensure that any legislation is fully in line with Iraq’s human rights obligations.”
3. Cut aways: Briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English)—Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The proposed amendments are all the more alarming in the context of Iraq, given its widening use of the death penalty. More than a dozen prisoners were executed at the end of 2023, and reports have been received indicating that the execution of hundreds of prisoners has been recently authorised.”
5. Cut aways: Briefing room
6. SOUNDBITE (English)—Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We call on the Government to halt all planned executions and establish a moratorium on any imposition of capital punishment, with a view to its abolition.”
7. Cut aways: Briefing room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OCHA
Summary: UN warns of potential slaughter in Rafah, Gaza, due to Israeli military operation, risking humanitarian disaster and health crisis.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | UNRWA
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini will update the press on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Summary: WHO deems current public health risk posed by avian influenza A (H5N1) low. Virus detected in calves and dairy cattle in the U.S., but virus fragments in pasteurized milk are not infectious. Surveillance and information sharing are crucial in combating the spread of zoonotic viruses.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
The head of UN peacekeeping and demining reiterated calls on Monday for a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday as a first step to returning the war-ravaged enclave to some normality, while mine clearance experts warned that Gaza is now at its “most dangerous period”.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk is gravely concerned by the escalating violence in and around El-Fasher city, North Darfur, where dozens of people have been killed in the past two weeks as hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have intensified., UN Human Rights spokesperson Seif Magango told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) briefed the journalist on the latest development in Iran.