Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) Sunday to spare the life of former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan citing a lack of evidence tying him to the 1982 Dujail killings for which he is charged. The court reconvenes on Monday to determine whether Ramadan's life sentence should be abandoned in favor of the death penalty.

Ramadan was convicted in November in connection with crimes against humanity committed in the town of Dujail in 1982. The IHT Appeals Chamber ruled December 26 in its decision upholding Saddam Hussein's death sentence that the life sentence for Ramadan was too lenient and ordered the trial court to re-sentence him. On Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour filed an amicus brief with the court arguing that imposing the death penalty would be a violation of Iraq's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.