Baghdad has executed 42 people convicted on "terrorist" charges in the past week, the Iraqi justice minister said Thursday amid international condemnation over the country's use of the death penalty.
"In the course of the past week, the ministry has carried out the death sentences handed down against 42 people, one of them a woman, who were all convicted of terrorism offences, in accordance with Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law," Hassan al-Shammari said, Agence France Presse reported.
Over the course of two days in September 23 people were executed in Iraq, according to a ministry annoucement on October 1. Most of those executed were convicted on charges of terrorism, AFP added.
Executions in Iraq are usually carried out by hanging and have drawn widespread international criticism and condemnation from the European Union, the United Nations and several human rights watchdogs, according to AFP.
