According to security sources, 5 people whose sentences were approved by the President were executed in Nasiriyah prison on Tuesday, February 9.

The signature of the President is required for execution. According to Iraqi presidency sources, the execution files of more than 340 people were approved.

The majority of these decisions were approved by the previous presidents, but they continued under Berhem Salih, who has been in office since 2018. Salih says he is personally against the death penalty.

There were 100 executions in 2019 in Iraq. This corresponds to one in every seven executions in the world.

In January, two suicide attacks by ISIS mercenaries that killed 32 people in Baghdad shocked the country. There had been no such attacks in Baghdad since 2017.

Berhem Salih has been accused of "not implementing the execution rules" against ISIS members on social networks since the last massacre.

Human Rights Watch has reacted that there is new evidence that "the death penalty has been used as a political tool."

In a statement at the end of 2020, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stated that unfair cases and violations of rights are frequently experienced in Iraq.