[prisoner-rights] Iraq: Torture continues at hands of new government

Police Systematically Abusing Detainees

(Baghdad, January 25, 2005) -- 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" [ http://hrw.org/reports/2005/iraq0105/ ], 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 was
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.

Human Rights Watch Press release