Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, United States, and Vietnam
Posted: October 2, 2024
Democratic Republic of the Congo
On September 13, 2024, 37 people, including three Americans, who were “charged with terrorism, murder, criminal association and illegal possession of weapons, among other charges” for their participation in an attempted coup in May were convicted and sentenced to death by a military court. Richard Bondo, lawyer for the three Americans, filed an appeal on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Mr. Bondo argues that since the DRC is a member of the Treaty of Rome, the reinstatement of the death penalty in March was illegal; rather than lifting the moratorium, parliament should have chosen an alternative punishment.
Iraq
On September 25, AFP reported the hanging of 21 people, including one woman, on terrorism-related charges in Nassiriya, marking the largest mass execution reported this year, according to Amnesty International Iraq. Earlier in April, 13 men were executed in Nassiriya on terrorism-related charges, dubbed “overly broad and vague” by Amnesty International, which marked the first recorded mass execution since November 2020. As of October 1, 2024, the Cornell Center for the Death Penalty Worldwide has recorded at least 94 executions in Iraq, surpassing the at least 16 executions reported by Amnesty in 2023. Echoing concerns voiced in June by the United Nations, the European Union released a statement on September 27 expressing “its deep concern over the recent increased application of capital punishment sentences in Iraq, including cases of several executions in one single day. Over 8 000 prisoners are reportedly on the death row in Iraq as of today.”
