Iraq executes 19 prisoners over terrorist acts

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Minister of Justice on Tuesday said it executed 19 convicted prisoners during the month over terror charges.

Hassan al-Shimmary, the Minister of Justice, told reporters at a press conference that the executions were carried out between November 7-17.

Among the executed, some convicts were found guilty in deadly attacks against civilians and Iraqi security forces, including twin bomb attacks on police headquarters in the province of Karbala in central Iraq, the minister said.

The increasing of executions in Iraq sparked calls to stop use of capital punishment by the UN mission in Iraq, the European Union and some international human rights groups, which have criticized the lack of transparency in the proceedings of the Iraqi courts.

Death penalty in Iraq was suspended for over a year on June 10, 2003.

However, the Iraqi government reinstated it on August 8, 2004, saying it would curb the widespread violence in the country.