BAGHDAD, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The Iraqi High Court convenes on Monday to debate whether Saddam Hussein's former vice president should follow him to the gallows, amid renewed appeals from international human rights groups for his life to be spared. Taha Yassin Ramadan was sentenced in November to life in jail after being convicted with Saddam and several others for their role in the killing of 148 Shi'ites in the town of Dujail in the 1980s. Saddam and two other men have already been hanged. The appeals court that confirmed Saddam's death sentence recommended Ramadan receive that penalty too. The case has now been referred back to the trial court for a final decision. Court officials said the trial court would read out the appeal court's ruling on Monday and hear any submissions from prosecutors or defence counsel. It was not certain, however, that a ruling would be made. New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the court on Sunday not to impose the death penalty, saying there had been a lack of evidence tying Ramadan to the Dujail killings. "The tribunal found Ramadan guilty without evidence linking him to the horrific crimes committed in Dujail," said Richard Dicker, a legal expert at Human Rights Watch. United Nations human rights chief Louise Arbour last week also urged the court to spare Ramadan's life, saying a death sentence would break international law. Her office said Arbour had filed a 38-page brief with the court laying out her arguments against the toughening of the sentence. Arbour, who had also called for the other death sentences not to be carried out, said the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iraq has signed, set strict limitations on when death sentences could be given.
