IRAQ. DEATH PENALTY RETURNS TO IRAQ, WITH A VENGEANCE

according to a poll conducted by the US International Republican Institute published earlier in the month, 60 percent of Iraqis wanted the nation's constitution, currently being drawn up by lawmakers, to mention "extensive use of the death penalty".
Only 29 percent opposed capital punishment being enshrined in the constitution.
"It is very difficult for Iraqis to live in such a situation of insecurity," said lawyer Nizar al-Sammarai.
"For the time being, we need something to stop (the violence) and that's the death penalty."
Yet research has shown that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent, and is especially unlikely to in Iraq where almost daily suicide bombings testify to a ready supply of people prepared to die for their cause.
"It shouldn't be applied to all criminals, only those who carry out (insurgent) attacks," said Abdel Majid al-Sabawi, a professor of constitutional law who wanted capital punishment to be repealed once peace was restored.
"The death penalty alone is not enough," he said. "The government must also apply stringent security and political measures."
In addition, Sabawi feared that innocent men could be executed because of failures within the new justice system.
While few Iraqis spoke out against the use of the death penalty, foreign rights groups regularly lobbied for a moratorium.
"We have written to the government asking them not to apply this law and we call on them not to carry out the sentences already passed," said Amnesty International's Said Boumedouha.
"We are worried about the way in which trials are carried out," he said, slamming such programs as Iraqiya television's "Terrorists in the Grip of Justice" in which alleged militants confessed their crimes, often bearing signs of beatings.
"I recognise that Iraq is faced with serious security problems and that the population has a wish for revenge," said Human Rights Watch's Joe Stork. "But human rights cannot be decided by public opinion."