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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iraq
Index
Both political offenders and ordinary criminal offenders in
the armed forces were tried in the military courts, but Iraq's
military courts had no jurisdiction over civilians accused of
security-related crimes. Such cases were reviewed by
revolutionary courts. Military tribunals were held in camera and
were often summary in nature. Although little information was
available in early 1988, observers believed that the system of
military justice differed little from the system in operation at
the time of the 1968 Baath Revolution. At that time a permanent
military court of at least five members was usually established
at each division headquarters and wherever large concentrations
of nondivision troops were stationed. In addition, emergency
military courts could be set up in combat areas to expedite the
trial of offenders there. Such courts usually consisted of three
members, a president with the rank of lieutenant colonel and two
members with the rank of major or above.
The highest court was the Military Court of Cassation, which
sat in Baghdad. It was appointed by the minister of defense and
was composed of a president with the rank of brigadier general or
above and two members with the rank of colonel or above. Appeals
from the sentences of lower military courts were heard in the
Military Court of Cassation; it also conducted trials of the
first instance of senior officers.
A number of changes were introduced into the Penal Code of
the Popular Army since 1980. Law No. 32 of 1982, for example,
made several offenses by service personnel punishable by death.
In its 1985 report, Amnesty International noted that RCC
Resolution No. 1370 reaffirmed the death penalty for various
offenses. These included fleeing or defaulting from military
service, conspiring against the state, espionage, and joining the
Ad Dawah al Islamiyah (the Islamic Call), commonly referred to as
Ad Dawah.
Data as of May 1988
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