Executing people in batches like this is obscene. It
is like processing animals in a slaughterhouse. The criminal justice
system in Iraq is still not functioning adequately, with numerous
convictions based on confessions obtained under torture and
ill-treatment, a weak judiciary and trial proceedings that fall short of
international standards. The application of the death penalty in these
circumstances is unconscionable, as any miscarriage of justice as a
result of capital punishment cannot be undone.
--- Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the non-stop executions in Iraq (last year at least 129 people were put to death in Iraq).