To the Editor:

Re “14 Death Sentences in 2 Hours: Iraq Shows No Mercy to ISIS Suspects” (news article, April 18):

The issue is not only with Iraq’s all-encompassing counterterrorism prosecutions; another roadblock to justice is the country’s underlying penal code, which is woefully unfit to address ISIS’ most heinous crimes.

ISIS specifically targeted women, girls and gender-nonconforming people with brutal violence. Rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and torture were central to its military and governing strategies.

Iraq’s existing criminal laws cannot provide justice for these crimes. For example, the rape law requires survivors to show lack of consent; there is no definition of slavery; forced marriage is rarely prosecuted; and torture is narrowly linked to obtaining confessions.

Even worse, Iraq has no laws prohibiting or punishing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. If prosecuted under Iraq’s penal code, basic crimes of ISIS’ gender-based violence will go unpunished.