UN Poised To Ignore Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Scandal

by Gustavo Capdevila

(IPS) GENEVA -- The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which during its April sessions kept mum on the abuses committed in Iraq, will once again avoid the issue in late May when it is to receive a report on the Iraq situation, say sources close to the matter.

The new report comes amidst denunciations that members of the U.S. and British occupying forces have tortured Iraqi inmates.

The United States blocked debate on the human rights situation in Iraq during the Commission's annual six-week sessions, which ended April 23, and "there is little chance now, after recent incidents, that they would agree to any attempt at monitoring," said a diplomat from a developing country, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The interim UN High Commission for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, announced Thursday that an investigation by his office of the military and security situation, including acts of terrorism, in Iraq -- occupied by U.S.-led forces since March 2003 -- would be presented to the Commission on May 31.

The document will also contain an evaluation of civilian protection efforts, the treatment of detainees, and the status of the internally displaced population, and women and children.

Ramcharan's initiative differentiates the stance of UN officials and experts in the human rights area from that taken by the UN member states in general, and by the 53 sitting on the Commission in particular.

Ramcharan himself said he was "perplexed and concerned" by the omission of the debate on Iraq from the Commission's agenda last month and stressed there is no international oversight of the human rights situation in that country in regards to terrorism, use of force and treatment of civilians.

Other experts at the UN expressed concern when they learned of the images of torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners committed by members of the U.S. and British occupying forces.

Theo van Boven, UN special rapporteur on torture said he was deeply troubled by those reports and by other denunciations of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Iraqi detainees.

Leila Zerrougui, chairwoman of the UN working group on arbitrary detentions, called on the Coalition Provisional Authority, the Iraqi Governing Council and all military forces deployed in that country to respect the principles and rules of international humanitarian law in regards to the treatment of prisoners of war.

Zerrougui said that most of the people detained in Iraq were arrested during public demonstrations, at checkpoints or during home searches. However, they are labelled as "detained for security reasons" or "suspected of engaging in activities against the coalition" of invading forces.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it brought up the Iraq situation in numerous communiquŽs sent to the U.S. authorities and urged changes in the conditions in which the Iraqi prisoners were being held.

Red Cross spokeswoman Antonella Notari said that observers from that organization had paid regular visits over the past few months to the Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad, scenario of the headline-grabbing abuses which have since been acknowledged by U.S. and British officials.

But none of the 53 member countries of the Commission on Human Rights sponsored any initiative to study the human rights situation in Iraq in the six weeks they were meeting in Geneva.

In March, just as the Commission debates were getting under way, the delegates from Ireland, which currently holds the rotating European Union presidency, made it known that the bloc would not sponsor a resolution on Iraq this year, unlike previous years.

Meanwhile, the United States announced that it would not "allow anyone to go and monitor what they are doing in the Iraqi territory or to interfere in the coalition's duties," said the diplomatic source.

The notion of convening a special session of the Commission to discuss the Iraq matter "is a very serious and high-voltage issue," because it is assumed that it would lead to a condemnation of the United States, added the diplomat.

Many of the Commission members would likely abstain from a vote on a resolution to censure the United States to avoid angering Washington, predicted the source.

The administrative panel of the Commission on Human Rights could take up the case at a meeting to take place Tuesday. A special session would only be convened if a member country requests it.

In that case, the Office of the High Commissioner would consult the missions of the 53 member states in Geneva and would convene a special session if the majority were in favor.

In recent years, special sessions of the Commission on Human Rights were held to study the humanitarian situations in East Timor and in the Palestinian territories.

Also pending in the Commission is a request for a special session presented by the United States to discuss the reports of human rights violations committed in Sudan.

An investigation team sent by the UN to Sudan returned to Geneva this week and will present its findings soon, said Jose Diaz, spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner.

Diaz said the group of five experts confirmed that the local population had suffered serious abuses at the hands of militias in the Darfur region, as had been reported by another mission of observers that took place Apr. 14-15.