On 22 September 2026, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions concerning the case of Mr Ibrahim Thaer Abdulrahman Al-Ghasani, an Iraqi national sentenced to death and at imminent risk of execution.
Confessions extracted under torture
Mr Al-Ghasani was arrested on 25 May 2015 in Baghdad by members of the Directorate of Intelligence. He was subsequently subjected to enforced disappearance and held incommunicado for approximately six months, without his family being informed of his fate or whereabouts.
He eventually reappeared at Nasiriyah Central Prison, where he was able to contact his family and inform them of his situation. He reported having been tortured and forced to place his fingerprints on incriminating statements while blindfolded. These statements were subsequently used in several criminal proceedings that led to death sentences.
Sentenced to death following several unfair trials
Mr Al-Ghasani received several death sentences in relation to the same allegations, the latest of which was handed down on 29 December 2022 under Iraq’s counter-terrorism legislation and subsequently upheld on appeal. According to information received by Alkarama, the administration of Nasiriyah Central Prison recently informed him that his execution was imminent.
Against this background, Alkarama urgently appealed to the United Nations Special Rapporteur to draw attention to the serious violations of Mr Al-Ghasani’s right to a fair trial that tainted the proceedings leading to his conviction, including the lack of effective legal assistance, the failure to investigate his allegations of torture, and the use of statements obtained under torture.
In its communication, Alkarama called on the Special Rapporteur to urgently intervene with the Iraqi authorities to prevent Mr Al-Ghasani’s execution, ensure an independent and impartial investigation into the acts of torture and the circumstances of his detention, and ensure respect for fundamental fair trial guarantees.
Alkarama also called on the Iraqi authorities to immediately halt all executions and refrain from carrying out any further executions, particularly in the context of the executions recently carried out in the country.