Torture and disappearances of Iraqi's by the US occupation forces, and even of those arrested being kept in jails that the Saddam used in oppressing his people.
Iraqis Accuse U.S. Forces of Torture - Amnesty
Iraqis detained by U.S. troops accused their captors of torture and degrading treatment, rights group Amnesty International reported on Wednesday, calling on the occupying forces to bring human rights violators to justice. Detainees also said U.S. troops had shot some captives, the London-based rights watchdog reported, in a study based on interviews with former prisoners of U.S. forces across Iraq. Amnesty staff heard complaints that included prolonged sleep deprivation and detainees being forced to stay in painful positions or wear hoods over their heads for long periods. "These conditions taken together would amount to torture as defined by U.N. standards," Amnesty's deputy executive director in the United States, Curt Goering, told a news conference. "Amnesty International is urging the coalition forces here to undertake an investigation into these allegations and if found substantiated, must bring those responsible to justice." Amnesty said it discussed its report with U.S. authorities in Iraq, and described the talks so far as "mixed." "There is an acknowledgement that there are some serious problems," he said. "Yet at the same time on some fundamental issues, there is a difference of opinion on what laws apply." U.S. military officials were not immediately available to comment on the report. But their British allies in the war that deposed Saddam Hussein said they would study the report. "Of course we take very seriously any such allegations by an organization like Amnesty," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told BBC radio. "I will study the allegations and the evidence behind them with very great care and if... I think it appropriate I shall also ensure they are discussed with the Americans." Amnesty staff gathered testimony from former detainees and from relatives of some still being held.
DETENTION CENTERS
Amnesty said it was concerned about the treatment of detainees, saying they often did not have quick enough access to lawyers, were sometimes mistreated. "We have found that after being taken into custody, individuals have effectively disappeared for unacceptably long periods of time," Goering said. "Despite extensive efforts to establish their whereabouts, at the end of the day (families) still cannot determine where their relatives are being held." Amnesty said U.S. forces, which have been struggling to impose law and order since occupying Iraq, repeatedly denied it permission to visit detention centers. The rights group has said thousands were being held in prisons run by U.S. troops, including Abu Ghraib, one the most feared jails under Saddam, and Camp Cropper near Baghdad airport. "Detainees continue to report suffering extreme heat while housed in tents, insufficient water, inadequate washing facilities, open trenches for toilets, no change of clothes, even after two months' detention," Amnesty said. It said it had received several reports of cases of detainees who have died in custody, "mostly as a result of shooting by members of the coalition forces." Amnesty said the U.S.-led troops' "window of opportunity" was rapidly closing to win over Iraqis, and feared a growing problem of human rights violations. "One cannot be a popular occupier if you are becoming at that very time a human rights violator," Goering said.
Iraqis Accuse U.S. Forces of Torture - Amnesty
Iraqis detained by U.S. troops accused their captors of torture and degrading treatment, rights group Amnesty International reported on Wednesday, calling on the occupying forces to bring human rights violators to justice. Detainees also said U.S. troops had shot some captives, the London-based rights watchdog reported, in a study based on interviews with former prisoners of U.S. forces across Iraq. Amnesty staff heard complaints that included prolonged sleep deprivation and detainees being forced to stay in painful positions or wear hoods over their heads for long periods. "These conditions taken together would amount to torture as defined by U.N. standards," Amnesty's deputy executive director in the United States, Curt Goering, told a news conference. "Amnesty International is urging the coalition forces here to undertake an investigation into these allegations and if found substantiated, must bring those responsible to justice." Amnesty said it discussed its report with U.S. authorities in Iraq, and described the talks so far as "mixed." "There is an acknowledgement that there are some serious problems," he said. "Yet at the same time on some fundamental issues, there is a difference of opinion on what laws apply." U.S. military officials were not immediately available to comment on the report. But their British allies in the war that deposed Saddam Hussein said they would study the report. "Of course we take very seriously any such allegations by an organization like Amnesty," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told BBC radio. "I will study the allegations and the evidence behind them with very great care and if... I think it appropriate I shall also ensure they are discussed with the Americans." Amnesty staff gathered testimony from former detainees and from relatives of some still being held.
DETENTION CENTERS
Amnesty said it was concerned about the treatment of detainees, saying they often did not have quick enough access to lawyers, were sometimes mistreated. "We have found that after being taken into custody, individuals have effectively disappeared for unacceptably long periods of time," Goering said. "Despite extensive efforts to establish their whereabouts, at the end of the day (families) still cannot determine where their relatives are being held." Amnesty said U.S. forces, which have been struggling to impose law and order since occupying Iraq, repeatedly denied it permission to visit detention centers. The rights group has said thousands were being held in prisons run by U.S. troops, including Abu Ghraib, one the most feared jails under Saddam, and Camp Cropper near Baghdad airport. "Detainees continue to report suffering extreme heat while housed in tents, insufficient water, inadequate washing facilities, open trenches for toilets, no change of clothes, even after two months' detention," Amnesty said. It said it had received several reports of cases of detainees who have died in custody, "mostly as a result of shooting by members of the coalition forces." Amnesty said the U.S.-led troops' "window of opportunity" was rapidly closing to win over Iraqis, and feared a growing problem of human rights violations. "One cannot be a popular occupier if you are becoming at that very time a human rights violator," Goering said.
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