PHA-Exchange> GEN: Iraqi Women's Death Sentences Spur European Outcry

[Claudio]

From: Marcy Bloom 


       Death sentences imposed on three Iraqi women have spurred international concerns about the conduct of their trials and the abrogation of international prohibitions against the death penalty for new mothers, Cynthia L. Cooper reports today. 
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      Iraqi Women's Death Sentences Spur European Outcry 

      By Cynthia L. Cooper
      WeNews correspondent 

       (WOMENSENEWS)--In Frankfurt, Germany, protestors planned to erect a scaffold and post a woman under it with a rope around her neck. In Stockholm, Sweden, and Ankara, Turkey, protestors gathered in front of the Iraq embassies. 

      These events, hastily-announced in the past two weeks, were to demand a halt to pending executions by hanging of three young women in Iraq.

      The women--Wassan Talib, 31; Zaynab Fahil, 25 and Liqa' Qamar Muhammad, 26-- were charged with vague crimes of acting against the public welfare, according to reports emerging from the war-torn country. Amnesty International issued an "urgent action," asking members around the world to send letters of protest, fearing that the executions were imminent.

      The cases underscore worries by human rights organizations about the sufficiency of the justice system in Iraq. Questions have arisen about the fairness of proceedings, the lack of legal representation, transparency in the justice system and use of the death penalty as well as the legitimacy of the legal tribunals themselves.

      "If the tribunal under which they were tried does not meet minimal standards, it's bogus. It becomes a lynch mob," said Karen Parker, a lawyer and co-founder of the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers in San Francisco. Parker and her organization endorsed efforts of the Brussels Tribunal, a multinational affiliation of human rights activists who monitor Iraq, to block the executions. The tribunal is coordinated over the Internet by leaders in varied locations.


      Cynthia L. Cooper is an independent journalist in New York with a background as a lawyer. She writes frequently about justice issues.

      Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors at womensenews.org.




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      For more information:
      Association of Humanitarian Lawyers:
      http://www.humanlaw.org/

      Amnesty International Urgent Action:
      http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE140052007

      The Brussels Tribunal:
      http://www.brusselstribunal.org/



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