10 prisoners executed in Iraq

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BAGHDAD, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Iraqi authorities Sunday executed 10 prisoners with terrorism convictions, the Ministry of Justice said.

Nine Iraqis and one Egyptian were executed Sunday, CNN reported.

"The Iraqi Justice Ministry carried out the executions by hanging 10 inmates after it was approved by the presidential council," the ministry said in a statement.

Since November 2011, more than 120 people have been executed in Iraq, despite the United Nations urging the country to use restraint, CNN said.

"The Iraqi authorities' insistence on carrying out this outrageous string of executions, while unwilling to reveal all but the barest of information, underlines the opaque and troubling nature of Iraq's justice system," Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement last month. "Rather than executing people, Iraq should focus on reforming its security and judicial systems to protect its citizens from increasing human rights violations."

"State sanction of executions only adds to violence in the society. If it continues at this rate, Iraq will soon be the third most prolific user of the death penalty in the world," he added.