Justice for all in Iraq even Human Rights Violators

Twenty-six month after The Speicher massacre, Iraqi government convicted and executed 36 people believed to be responsible for themassacre.Speicher is considered one of the worst crimes ISIS has committed since it took over large parts of the Iraq in 2014 and one of the powerful motivator for loyal Iraqi Shia to volunteer to fight and protect their shrines.

The SpeicherMassacre

In June 2014, proximately 1700 people were killed in the massacre near former river police building inside Saddam Hussein’s palace complex in Tikrit. Video footage subsequently released by Isis showed an assembly-line massacre in which gunmen herded their victims towards the quay, shot them in the back of the head and pushed them in the water one after the other.

According to the governor of Dhiqar, Yahya al-Nasseri, at least 400 of the Speicher massacre victims were from Dhiqar province, which ispredominantly Shia and where the executions had been carried out by hanging.

Although punishing responsible parties is a necessity, not everyone is happy with the way Iraqi government is handling this situation. Families and loved ones of the Speicher massacre victims have been asking for justice and investigation however the government did not respond to them. According to local journalists, they were forbidden to engage in the investigation and were asked not to contact or interview the family members. It is reported that Iraqi government intentionally kept all Speicher related news private resulting in anger and dissatisfaction of victims’ family members.

Who was executed?

After more than two years, the government announced execution of 36 people only after it is carried in Nasiriyah prison on Sunday August 21st. There are no details on the investigation, no known trial and most importantly no names were released!!!

Justice for All

As much as I, as an activist, care about punishing human rights violator, I care about justice for all. The Iraqi government must release names of people executed, their positions and relationship to the Speicher massacre. The victims’ families, families of those executed, and all Iraqis, have the right to know the details of this case.

Threat: Injustice in form of Justice

Such mysterious executions seem to only serve as suppressor of investigation demands and can accelerate injustice. All governments, including Iraqis, must openly investigate injustice, engage and inform public in the results and assure just and fair trial for all even Perpetrator.

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