Iraq: Four Security Officers of Former Vice-President Al Hashimi Arbitrarily Detained on Basis of False Confessions Obtained Under Torture

On 5 August 2014, Alkarama sent a communication to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to call upon the Iraqi authorities to end the arbitrary detention of four security officers by releasing them immediately. Ghassan Al Kubaisi, Omar Al Noaemy, Abdulrazak Al Duleimi and Uday Al Ithawi were all arrested between December 2011 and January 2012, severely tortured and forced to make false confessions, on the basis of which they were later sentenced to death by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI). Today, these four individuals are still detained in Al Baladiyat Prison in extremely poor and inhumane conditions of detention.

Background

In December 2011, Iraqi security forces, ordered by Prime Minister al Maliki, surrounded the house of vice-president Tariq Al Hashimi, a leading member of the Iraquiya coalition, al Maliki's main electoral rival, who was criticising what he saw as al Maliki's attempts to centralise power. This was marking an escalation of tensions between al Maliki and Al Hashimi who had been at odds over the formation of a unity government.

As Al Hashimi was not home, the security forces arrested several of his relatives and members of his staff instead. On 19 December 2011, forced confessions at gunpoint of three of his bodyguards who were severely tortured beforehand were aired on state-run channel Al Iraquiya. The same day, the Ministry of Interior held a press conference to announce that an arrest warrant had been issued against Al Hashimi for having "orchestrated bombing attacks" during which the coerced confessions were released, in violation of the principle of presumption of innocence. This practice of airing confessions on TV is widespread in Iraq, to the extent that the US-funded state-controlled channel, Al Iraquiya runs a series called "Terror in the hands of justice", where alleged "terrorists" are brought in to "confess their crimes".

Meanwhile, the security services, tightly controlled by Al Maliki, continued to arrest dozens of Al Hashimi's staff and bodyguards and took them to secret locations where they were severely tortured and forced to sign confessions incriminating both Al Hashimi and themselves. Al Kubaisi, Al Noaemy, Al Duleimi and Al Ithawi were among them.

Arrested, tortured and forced to make false confessions

Upon their arrest, they were all severely tortured and forced to confess having carried out terrorist attacks ordered by Al Hashimi before being charged with "carrying out terrorist attacks" by the investigating judge of the CCCI branch in Al Karkh. They were later transferred to Al Baladiyat Prison in Bagdad, where they were held incommunicado for more than one year, until their first family visit.

All reported having been severely tortured, following the same pattern. While the purpose of the torture was at first to have them confess that they took part in terrorist acts on behalf of Al Hashimi, it later turned to a collective punishment simply for having worked as his bodyguards. In addition to being held in solitary confinement, they were being beaten up (falaqa), forced to strip and exposed to extremely low temperatures. They were also strangled with plastic bags and subjected to electric shocks via electrodes placed on sensitive parts of their body. The security services agents, who had access to the prison facilities, also threatened to arrest their wives and mothers and rape them in front of them.

Court proceedings were all the more flawed as none of them was able to appoint a lawyer of his choice who was instead automatically assigned and whom they met for the first time during hearings. The lawyers were not even allowed to access their clients' criminal file.

Sentenced to death after flawed trials

About a year after their arrest, Al Kubaisi, Al Noaemy, and Al Ithawi were notified of their condemnations to death after a speedy hearing during which they were not permitted to speak. Until now, Al Duleimi is still awaiting his sentence.

They were all sentenced on the basis of article 4 of the Iraq's Anti-terrorism Law of 2005, according to which "anyone who committed, as a main perpetrator or a participant, any of the terrorist acts [...], shall be sentenced to death." In addition, this law states that "anyone, who intentionally covers up any terrorist act [...], shall be sentenced to life imprisonment." Alkarama argues that this provision is extremely vague and allows for the arbitrary imposition of death penalty. In fact, in Iraq, the majority of executions are carried out following sentences issued by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq which are based on this very law.

In view of the foregoing, Alkarama submits that the detention of Ghassan Al Kubaisi, Omar Al Noaemy, Abdulrazak Al Duleimi and Uday Al Ithawi clearly violates fair trials norms by Iraq as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and requested the UN Working Group to issue an Opinion in this regard.

While requesting the Iraqi authorities to release these individuals immediately, Alkarama also called upon the Iraqi authorities to put a stay to all pending death sentences and adopt a moratorium on capital punishment, which systematically results from unfair trials and the sole use of confessions extracted under torture as evidence.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810)