[Electrodes to the genitals. Funny how that used to be headline news, isn't it?]
[I guess it's because rape has now been outsourced to the private sector.]
[Adds force to the argument that we would have been better off applying incentives to Saddam to liberalize. We'd have gotten this, but with the lights on.]
URL: http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0125-07.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 25, 2005
10:32 AM
CONTACT: Human Rights Watch
Tel:202-612-4321, Fax:202-612-4333
Iraq: Torture Continues at Hands of New Government Police
Systematically Abusing Detainees
BAGHDAD -- January 25 -- Iraqi security forces are committing
systematic torture and other abuses against people in detention, Human
Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
The 94-page report, The New Iraq? Torture and Ill-treatment of
Detainees in Iraqi Custody, documents how unlawful arrest, long-term
incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees
(including children) by Iraqi authorities have become routine and
commonplace. Human Rights Watch conducted interviews in Iraq with
90 detainees, 72 of whom alleged having been tortured or ill-treated,
particularly under interrogation.
While insurgent forces have committed numerous unlawful attacks
against the Iraqi police, this does not justify the abuses committed
by Iraqi authorities, Human Rights Watch said.
"The people of Iraq were promised something better than this after the
government of Saddam Hussein fell," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive
director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa
Division. "The Iraqi Interim Government is not keeping its promises to
honor and respect basic human rights. Sadly, the Iraqi people continue
to suffer from a government that acts with impunity in its treatment
of detainees."
Methods of torture cited by detainees include routine beatings to the
body using cables, hosepipes and other implements. Detainees report
kicking, slapping and punching; prolonged suspension from the wrists
with the hands tied behind the back; electric shocks to sensitive
parts of the body, including the earlobes and genitals;
and being kept blindfolded and/or handcuffed continuously for several
days. In several cases, the detainees suffered what may be permanent
physical disability.
Detainees also reported being deprived by Iraqi security forces of
food and water, and being crammed into small cells with standing room
only. Numerous detainees described how Iraqi police sought bribes in
return for release, access to family members or food and water.
The Human Rights Watch report details serious and widespread human
rights violations since 2003, against both alleged national security
suspects, including insurgents, and suspected common criminals. It
also highlights serious violations committed by Iraq's national
intelligence service since mid-2004, principally against members of
political parties deemed to constitute a threat to state security.
Human Rights Watch said its investigations in Iraq over a four-month
period between July and October 2004 found the systematic use of
arbitrary arrest, prolonged pre-trial detention (up to four months in
some cases) without judicial review, torture and ill-treatment of
detainees, denial of access by families and lawyers to detainees,
improper treatment of detained children, and abysmal conditions in
pre-trial facilities. The report does not address the mistreatment of
persons in the custody of U.S. or other multinational forces in Iraq.
"The Iraqi security forces obviously face tremendous challenges,
including an insurgency that has targeted civilians," Whitson said.
"We unequivocally condemn the insurgents' brutality. But international
law is unambiguous on this point: no government can justify torture of
detainees in the name of security."
With rare exception, the Iraqi authorities have failed to investigate
and punish officials responsible for violations. International police
advisers, primarily U.S. citizens funded through the United States
government, have turned a blind eye to these rampant abuses.
"In the name of bringing security and stability to Iraq, both Iraqi
officials and their advisers have allowed these abuses to go
unchecked," Whitson said. "We have not seen the Iraqi police held
accountable for their actions."
The Human Rights Watch report examines the cases of suspected members
or sympathizers of Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army who were
arrested during and in the aftermath of the armed clashes in the city
of Najaf in August 2004. Several members of a political party,
Hizbullah, were arrested at the same time. In these cases,
security forces, including intelligence personnel, arrested persons
unlawfully, subjected them to torture and a variety of abuses, and
later released them without charge. Their cases never reached the
courts.
Human Rights Watch's interviews included over 60 criminal suspects,
most of them referred to the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad and
accused of serious felonies, including terrorism, abduction, money
laundering, drug trafficking and acts of sabotage. A smaller number
accused of less serious offenses were held in police stations and
referred to Baghdad's other criminal courts.
"They poured cold water over me and applied electric shocks to my
genitals. I was also beaten by several people with cables on my arms
and back," said a 21-year-old man arrested in July 2004 and accused of
links with the Mahdi Army. Another detainee arrested in June 2004 on
charges of possession of drugs said: "During the first three days
there as continuous torture. I was beaten with an aluminum rod and
with cables. . Then I was told to sign a statement with my hands tied
behind my back, so I didn't even see the paper and I don't know what I
signed."
"A new Iraqi government requires more than a change of leadership - it
requires a change of attitude about basic human dignity," Whitson
said.
Human Rights Watch called on the Iraqi government to promptly
investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment and bring to
justice officials responsible for the abuse of detainees. The
government should take urgent steps to ensure compliance with its
domestic and international legal obligations that would afford better
protection for
detainees from abuse, and give serious consideration to granting
access to detention facilities under Ministry of Interior authority to
independent human rights monitoring groups.
The United States and other donors should ensure that international
advisers working with the Iraqi authorities on policing and detentions
should give immediate priority to assisting in the establishment of a
mechanism for the prompt reporting and investigation of allegations of
torture and ill-treatment, including the setting up of an independent
complaints body.
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