Permanent Representative participated in the meeting of the Group of Islamic Cooperation Countries

Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq, Ambassador Mohammad Hussein Bahr Al-Uloom, participated in the meeting of the Group of Islamic Cooperation Countries, which was held at the ambassadorial level in New York on October 22, 2020, to discuss the decision on stopping the death penalty. The Permanent Representative thanked Singapore for its efforts in this regard and for leading efforts to highlight the importance of defending the principle of state sovereignty as stipulated in the United Nations Charter.

Iraq assures that each country has the right to develop its own legal systems, including setting appropriate legal sanctions, in accordance with its obligations under international law, and Iraq believes that this is the essence of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes the sovereign right and equality of sovereignty for all member states of the United Nations. And when the resolution entitled: “Stopping the death penalty” was last considered at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, Iraq voted in favor of the amendment submitted by Singapore and will continue to do so.

Iraq does not use the death penalty except for the most serious crimes of a terrorist nature that terrorize his people, in order to protect its people, prevent impunity, and achieve justice and equity for the victims and their families.

The Permanent Representative urged the member states, in a second intervention, to support Iraq in its nomination for the seat of the Advisory Committee for Administrative and Budgetary Affairs in the Fifth Committee, which will take place on the sixth of November of this year.