Iraqi government admits abuses by security forces
03 Jul 2005 14:54:48 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mariam Karouny

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03428937.htm

BAGHDAD, July 3 (Reuters) - Iraq's government
acknowledged on Sunday that some of its new security
forces were resorting to the sort of torture and
abuses of detainees seen under Saddam Hussein as they
struggle to put down Sunni Arab insurgents.

Responding to the latest of numerous reports alleging
the widespread use of irregular arrests and of
violence against prisoners by Iraqi police and other
security units, a government spokesman blamed it in
part on the brutalising of Iraqi society under Saddam
and said ministers were addressing the problem.

"These things happen. We know that," Laith Kubba told
a news briefing after a report in Britain's Observer
newspaper detailed allegations of death squads and
secret torture centres.

"It does not happen because the government approves it
or adopts it as policy," he added, saying ministers
were worried.

Six months ago, New York-based Human Rights Watch
documented what it called "routine and commonplace"
abuse by Iraqi forces.

The United States and Britain, the new government's
main backers, have voiced concern. Both have been
embarrassed by killings and abuse of Iraqis by their
own forces after they had justified invasion partly on
the grounds of Saddam's repression.

With civil war a threat in Iraq, U.S. officials said
they are especially concerned about sectarian and
ethnic tensions underlying some of the allegations
against the security forces and militias endorsed by
the Shi'ite- and Kurd-led government.

The Interior Ministry, which some leaders of Saddam's
formerly dominant Sunni Arab minority accuse of
sanctioning reprisals by Shi'ite death squads, flatly
denied overseeing torture and said protecting human
rights was a priority.

SECTARIAN THREAT

A Kurdish Islamist member of parliament told the
National Assembly he himself had been beaten and
subjected to sectarian insults in police custody two
weeks ago. Mohammed Hamed Qader demanded that the
Interior Ministry investigate the affair.

Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji denied
any policy to torture or kill detainees: "It is all
false," he told Reuters. "We do not want to repeat
history. We the Iraqi people have been tortured and
abused and do not want to go back to it."

Sunni Arab leaders have raised concerns about the
ministry's links to the Shi'ite Badr militia under
minister Bayan Jabor, appointed in Prime Minister
Ibrahim al-Jaafari's team in April.

Jabor is a member of the powerful Shi'ite party SCIRI,
of which the Badr movement was the armed wing formerly
in exile.

Badr leaders deny Sunni allegations it runs death
squads.

Accounts are common of people being seized by armed
men in the uniforms of the police, army or special
units like Baghdad's Wolf Brigade police commandos and
then disappearing without trace or being found dead,
sometimes showing signs of torture.

Government spokesman Kubba said the new authorities
were training police and troops to respect human
rights.

"But theory is one thing and practice is another," he
said, adding that decades of violence had brutalised
Iraqi society.

"At the end of the day, I'm sorry to say that we are
living in a society where the culture now accepts
these violations.

"I'm sorry to say the culture of violence has spread."

Britain's Foreign Office said any abuse was
unacceptable.

A U.S. official in Baghdad, noting that diplomats had
already intervened with Kurdish leaders after
complaints of ethnically motivated detentions of Arabs
in the divided city of Kirkuk, said some allegations
against the Shi'ite-dominated police appeared true and
may be related to sectarian rivalries.

"The problem of sectarianism is real," the official
said in an anonymous briefing to journalists on
Friday, adding that Washington applauded government
efforts to prosecute offenders.

"If (Sunnis) feel they are open territory for attack,
then it will only encourage the insurgency."

(Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald and Waleed
Ibrahim in Baghdad)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Senior U.S. Military official confirms detainee abuse
by Iraqi security forces

http://www.wtnh.com/global/story.asp?s=3546236&ClientType=Printable

(Mosul, Iraq-AP, July 1, 2005 11:05 AM) _ A senior
American military official -- apparently for the first
time -- is publicly confirming the abuse of detainees
and prisoners at the hands of Iraqi security forces.

Major General David Rodriguez, the commander of U.S.
and coalition forces in the area around Mosul, says
that in the "last six to eight weeks" there have been
approximately "40 or so" cases of abuse.

Rodriguez says U.S. troops have been instructed to
intervene immediately when they see physical
mistreatment occur. And he says Iraqi troops are being
trained more intensively so that their treatment of
prisoners conforms "with standards of conduct and
discipline in accordance with the internationally
accepted rules of law."

Rodriguez says all of the cases of abuse that he is
familiar with involve physical mistreatment at the
time of arrest or mistreatment during interrogations.
He says he is not aware of any deaths connected to the
abuse.

Back in January, Human Rights Watch released a report
alleging detainee abuse at the hands of Iraqi security
forces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iraq insurgency forces Pentagon rethink on ability to
fight two wars at once

Heavy costs, China and 9/11 influence military review

Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday July 6, 2005
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1522144,00.html

The Iraq counter-insurgency is forcing the Pentagon to
question its military doctrine that requires forces to
be able to fight two major wars at the same time, it
was claimed yesterday.

A four-yearly review of US military power is not due
until early next year, but it is already clear that
the strategy is under great strain from the Iraq war.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Revealed: grim world of new Iraqi torture camps

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1520136,00.html

Secret torture chambers, the brutal interrogation of
prisoners, murders by paramilitaries with links to
powerful ministries... Foreign affairs editor Peter
Beaumont in Baghdad uncovers a grim trail of abuse
carried out by forces loyal to the new Iraqi
government




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