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According to Iraqi Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari, 1,400 Iraqis sentenced to death are awaiting execution. It's a large number, but the Iraqi government justifies it by pointing to the “magnitude of the violence in Iraq.” Opponents, on the other hand, decry “the haphazard application of the Iraqi Anti-Terrorism Law as well as the confusion, criticisms and doubts pervading the Iraqi judiciary.”
Shammari’s announcement of the number of people awaiting the gallows for being involved in violent acts happened on two occasions: first, in an Amnesty International report that ranked Iraq third in the number executions; second, as part of the intensifying demands by Sunni political and popular circles to suspend the death sentences.
