• Press Release

Deadly Wave of Bombings Across Iraq On Eve of Islamic New Year That Killed At Least 14 People Must Be Immediately Investigated

November 14, 2012

Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 212-633-4150, @strimel

(New York) – Amnesty International today condemned a series of bomb attacks across Iraq on Wednesday that reportedly killed at least 14 people and injured many more.

The deadliest attack took place in the northern city of Kirkuk, where four bombs planted in parked cars reportedly went off simultaneously, killing at least nine people and wounding scores more. In the mainly Shi'a southern city of Hilla, a car bomb reportedly exploded near a school and a crowded market and left at least four people dead, some of them schoolchildren.

Explosions were also reported in the capital, Baghdad, the town of Balad Ruz, and the province of Diyala. The attacks appear to have targeted both Iraqi civilians and members of the security forces.

“Deliberate attacks on civilians are never justified. Such attacks show utter contempt for humanity and must be roundly condemned,” said Philip Luther, director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“We urge the Iraqi authorities to conduct a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation. Those suspected of being behind the attacks must be brought to justice in proceedings that meet international standards of fairness, without the imposition of the death penalty.”

No one has so far claimed responsibility for today’s attacks.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.