The new president of Iraq, Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani (pictured), recently voiced his concerns about the death penalty, even for those accused of war crimes like Saddam Hussein. “I am among the lawyers who signed an international petition against the death penalty in the world and it would be [a] problem for me if Iraqi courts issued death sentences,” Talabini said when asked about the fate of Hussein, who is in U.S. custody in Iraq awaiting trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kurds were among the communities who suffered the most under the dictatorship of Saddam. Under current law, the former Iraqi leader could face the death penalty.
(Agence France Presse, April 11, 2005). See New Voices and International Death Penalty.
