UN Charges Baghdad’s Mass Hanging of 36 was “Vengeance without Human Rights”

The United Nations has reacted to the mass hanging of 36 Sunni soldiers for the killings of at least 1,700 Shiite soldiers, calling it “vengeance” for the act carried out by ISIS two years ago. According to a UN spokesperson, many of those executed were convicted on the basis of so-called “secret” information and because of “confessions” believed to have been violently coerced. The UN had previously called upon the Iraqi government to carry out the trials with due process rather than violence, but “that was not the case.” In addition to the alleged beatings that elicited confessions, the accused were also prevented from having legal counsel during their trials. The soldiers were killed in 2014 when a former US military based used by the Iraqis was overrun by ISIS fighters who captured and executed the 1,700 who were not able to flee in time. Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency has reported that the US downplayed the number of Iraqi Sunnis tortured, abused and killed by Shiite militias when American forces were retaking Fallujah in June. More than 700 are still missing since that time.