UN Calls For Probe Of Iraq Prisoner Abuse

by Thalif Deen Ê

(IPS) UNITED NATIONS -- UN officials have joined the rising tide of criticism against U.S. and British soldiers alleged to have tortured and humiliated Iraqi detainees in a notorious Baghdad penitentiary.

The charges, which have evoked widespread anger in the Arab world and triggered strong condemnation by the international community, have revealed a seamier side to the military occupation of Iraq.

"These are extremely serious allegations," Paul Hunt, a special rapporteur in the UN human rights commission, said Monday.

In a letter to the U.S.-administered Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) that oversees occupied Iraq, Hunt "strongly recommended" the establishment of an independent probe into the humanitarian situation in Fallujah.

The investigation should also examine allegations of mistreatment of Iraqi detainees. "If they are true, steps must be taken to ensure these grave breaches of international law do not recur," he said.

"Lives are at stake, and so is the CPA's credibility," added Hunt, who is designated 'special rapporteur on the right to health'.

Besides graphic photographs of torture and humiliation -- first shown on U.S. television last week -- the 'Washington Post' ran interviews Monday with ex-detainees who detailed some of the abuses, including weeks of interrogation and sleep-deprivation, severe isolation, humiliation and physical duress.

A group of ex-prisoners said these tactics by U.S. soldiers were part of the daily regimen for the estimated 2,500 to 7,000 Iraqis detained in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

The Post said the photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners have reinforced the Arab view that the military occupation of Iraq was also meant to humiliate the people of the country.

"The images going around the world have been damaging," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters Monday.

While he was "encouraged" the U.S. government is taking the allegations seriously, Annan said he is "deeply concerned" about the charges that British and U.S. soldiers had beaten up prisoners.

"In all these situations, when it comes to the treatment of prisoners of war, we have to respect international humanitarian law," he said.

Both President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have unequivocally condemned the torture of Iraqi prisoners, and the U.S. and UK governments have acted swiftly to conduct their own investigations.

The U.S. Army has ordered two investigations, one into the allegations of abuse, and a second to assess the training of all military police and intelligence officers who oversee prisoners.

Joseph Biden, a Democratic senator and a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the allegations had caused "phenomenal damage" to the United States in the Middle East region.

Hunt's remarks were bolstered Monday by a second UN human rights expert, Theo von Boven, who said he was "seriously concerned" about "reports of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Iraqi detainees by U.S. and UK military forces serving under the Coalition Provisional Authority."

Von Boven, who is a special rapporteur on torture, said the prohibition of torture is explicitly affirmed in several international conventions, including article 5 of the UN 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' and article 7 of the 'International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights'.

He called on all coalition forces serving in Iraq "to take prompt and effective steps to investigate, prosecute and impose appropriate sanctions on any persons guilty of the alleged violations, as well as provide an effective remedy and adequate reparation for the victims of these abuses."

Hunt said that while it was difficult to obtain reliable information, there have been "credible allegations" that coalition forces have been "guilty of serious breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law in Fallujah in recent weeks."

Until last week, U.S. forces were sustaining a military siege of the city west of Baghdad, which resulted in the killings of hundreds of Iraqi civilians.

According to some reports, said Hunt, 90 percent of the estimated 750 civilian deaths were non-combatants.

In his letter to the CPA, Hunt also called for an end to the use of indiscriminate force and the blocking of civilians from entering Fallujah's main hospital.

The letter added that there were charges coalition forces were preventing medical staff from either working at the hospital or redeploying medical supplies to an improvised health facility.

Additionally, Hunt said, coalition forces have been accused of occupying the hospital and firing at ambulances.

All of these, the special rapporteur said, are very serious allegations. "An independent enquiry is especially important because recent events in Fallujah have been shielded from international scrutiny," he added.

Moreover, access to the city has been severely restricted -- and the extreme insecurity has meant that very few independent monitors have been able to report on events.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has also expressed concern over civilian killings in Iraq.

Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramacharan said Monday he regretted that the human rights commission, which concluded its five-week session in Geneva last month, refused to take any action on the situation in Iraq.

The only draft resolution on Iraq was withdrawn at the eleventh hour, possibly under U.S. pressure, according to diplomatic sources.

But Ramacharan has indicated he will launch his own fact-finding exercise on the human rights situation in Iraq.