Accidental beheading a "mishap" not "mistreatment"

Saddam Hussein's two co-defendants were executed today. Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar were hung side-by-side using the same gallows as were used for Saddam just a week or so ago.

The Iraqi government admitted that, in what is explained was a "rare mishap," al-Tikriti's head was severed by the rope, with the body and head falling below the gallows and landing several yards apart.

According to an Iraqi government spokesperson:

The convicts were not subjected to any mistreatment. Their rights were not violated. There was no chanting. The Iraqi government acted in a neutral way.

I don't know about you, but I'm relieved to know that nobody was mistreated or had their rights violated by having their heads ripped from their bodies. I mean, that may be disgusting, brutal, and viscous, but at least there was no chanting this time.