Decree No. 70
Date of Decree: 12 Muharram 1415 A.H./21 June 1994
In accordance with the provisions of article 42, paragraph (a), of the Constitution, the Revolution Command Council has decreed as follows:
I. 1. The leadership of the local section of the Arab Baath Socialist Party and the people's council in any district shall each be empowered to detain, for a period of one year, anyone who monopolizes, by hoarding and refusing to sell, any commodity similar to those listed on the ration card. A repeated offence shall be punished by detention for a period of three years, with closure of the establishment and cancellation of the licences issued to it. Such decisions shall be taken by a majority vote.
2. The penalties prescribed in paragraph 1 above shall apply to any farmer who refuses to sell cereals to the competent official body.
II. The detainee may lodge an appeal with the branch leadership against such a decision taken against him by the section leadership and with the higher controlling authority against such a decision taken by a people's council. Such appeal must be submitted in writing by himself or his representative within one week from the date on which the decision is announced and the body with which the appeal is lodged must consider it within one week from the date of its submission and, by a majority vote, may approve or annul the contested decision. Its ruling on this matter shall be final.
III. The section leadership or the people's council in the district shall notify the local police station of its decision and shall send a copy thereof directly to the Director-General of Police and also to the ministries concerned, through the Office of the Regional Secretary in the case of sections of the Party and through the higher controlling authority in the case of people's councils.
IV. The leadership of subsections of the Party and people's councils in subdistricts shall be vested with the powers specified in clauses I and III above. With regard to appeal, their decisions shall be subject to the provisions set forth in clause II of this Decree.
V. If the act referred to in clause I of this Decree constitutes sabotage of the national economy and causes severe detriment to the public interest, the person accused, regardless of whether he is an adult or a minor, shall be referred to the examining magistrate and measures shall be taken against him in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure on the expiration of the period of detention prescribed in paragraph 1 of clause I of this Decree.
VI. The penalty for the act referred to in clause V of this Decree shall be amputation of the right hand from the wrist and, in the event of a repeated offence, amputation of the left foot from the ankle.
VII. The penalty prescribed in clause VI of this Decree shall not be applied if the perpetrator of the offence is a minor. In such a case, the penalty shall be confinement for a period of 7-15 years.
VIII. This Decree shall enter into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette until further notice.
Saddam HUSSEIN
Chairman of the Revolution Command Council
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