Iraqi Court Sentences 15 to Die After Massacre

In 2011 a court in Baghdad sentenced fifteen men to death over the killing of dozens of people at a wedding party in 2006, one of the worst atrocities of Iraq's sectarian civil war. Officials said the attackers were linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, and that men, women and children were among the dead.

The context

The massacre took place during the worst period of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq, after the bombing of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra in February 2006. Death squads and insurgent groups carried out mass killings, and bodies were found daily in Baghdad and surrounding provinces.

Justice, Iraqi-style

The verdicts were welcomed by victims' families, but human rights organisations raised concerns about Iraq's justice system. They pointed to trials that relied heavily on confessions, allegations of torture during interrogation, and the country's widespread use of the death penalty. Iraq has carried out large numbers of executions in the years since, often in batches, drawing repeated criticism from the United Nations.

Why it matters

The case captured a dilemma that still shapes Iraq: the need to deliver justice for atrocities on a massive scale, and the risk that flawed trials deepen the grievances that fuelled the violence in the first place.