[lbo-talk] Iraqi government tortures political opponents

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Tue Jan 25 16:02:22 PST 2005


[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

hrwdc at hrw.org

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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