Eleven of the men had been shot in the head and showed signs of torture. Their bodies were found in a truck in the Al-Ghazaliya district of Baghdad. No further details were immediately available.
Three bodies were found near a water purification plant. Another was discovered in eastern Baghdad.
In a separate incident in Baghdad, a police officer in civilian clothes was shot dead in the Al-Ghazaliya district by unidentified assailants.
(AFP, Reuters)