GENEVA - A UN independent human rights expert has called on France to press for the return of seven of its citizens who are awaiting execution for terrorist offences in Iraq.

In a statement, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, said that there were “serious allegations that the sentences were handed down following unfair trials”.

The accused terrorists had “no adequate legal representation” or effective help from the French Government, she added, and Iraq had no standing under international law, to impose the death penalty.

Ms. Callamard said it was disturbing that France may have had a role in transferring the men to Iraq, after they had been arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

She called on all countries whose citizens were facing terrorist charges in Iraq, to allow them to face justice at home, “in a manner consistent with international law.”