Iraq torture 'worse after Saddam'
BBC
Allegations of severe torture have regularly emerged from Iraq
Torture may be worse now in Iraq than under former leader Saddam Hussein, the UN's chief anti-torture expert says.
Manfred Nowak said the situation in Iraq was "out of control", with abuses being committed by security forces, militia groups and anti-US insurgents.
Bodies found in the Baghdad morgue "often bear signs of severe torture", said the human rights office of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq in a report.
The wounds confirmed reports given by refugees from Iraq, Mr Nowak said.
He told journalists at a briefing in Geneva that he had yet to visit Iraq, but he was able to base his information on autopsies and interviews with Iraqis in neighbouring Jordan.
"What most people tell you is that the situation as far as torture is concerned now in Iraq is totally out of hand," the Austrian law professor said.
"The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein," he added.
Brutal methods
The UN report says detainees' bodies often show signs of beating using electrical cables, wounds in heads and genitals, broken legs and hands, electric and cigarette burns.
Bodies found at the Baghdad mortuary "often bear signs of severe torture including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances".
Many bodies have missing skin, broken bones, back, hands and legs, missing eyes, missing teeth and wounds caused by power drills or nails, the UN report says.
Victims come from prisons run by US-led multinational forces as well as by the ministries of interior and defence and private militias, the report said.
The most brutal torture methods were employed by private militias, Mr Nowak told journalists.
The report also says the frequency of sectarian bloodletting means bodies are often found which "bear signs indicating that the victims have been brutally tortured before their extra-judicial execution".
It concludes that torture threatens "the very fabric of the country" as victims exact their own revenge and fuel further violence.
Mr Nowak said he would like to visit Iraq in person, but the current situation would not allow him to prepare an accurate report, because it would not be safe to leave Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone where the Iraqi government and US leadership are situated.
I saw that too. You beat me to it.
Kinda takes the wind out of the newest-grafted-on reason that Bush drones parrot for the war in the first place: "Iraqis are better off without Saddam".
That, like so many other discredited ideas about Iraq, just continually prove just how clueless the administration is about what it is doing in the world.
Two words: plastics shredder.
I heard there are tours to Iraq for sick ppl who pay to torture ppl for fun. kinda like Hostel. messed up , great spread of democracy by our president.
Riiight. I heard Lebron James is suiting up for the Spurs next year too and will play for free. I'm soooo happy!
I've heard their are horrendous sweat shops in primarily democratic congressional districts in Los Angeles and Chicago. Wait, I haven't heard that, it's actually been on the news.
What you're describing are, actually, law enforcement issues for the new Democratic government of Iraq to address. Just like we address our crime, I'm confident they will find a way to address theirs -- just as soon as their get a handle on the car bombers.
u are actually comparing a sweatshop to a torture chamber where body parts are removed from the live victims???
Pontius Pilate, is that you?What you're describing are, actually, law enforcement issues for the new Democratic government of Iraq to address. Just like we address our crime, I'm confident they will find a way to address theirs -- just as soon as their get a handle on the car bombers.
good call, Bush will probably wash his hands on this issue as well.
But wasn't the plan from the Bush administration to remove Saddam and help build a stable democratic goverment in Iraq??? how can u have a stable democratic goverment if ppl get tortured worse than under the "terrible dictator"?
That is the laughter of despair, btw.
So, let's see. 150,000 dead, infrastructure destroyed, country in state of civil war AND the torture is a bad as before! Poor freakin Iraqis!
Who didn't see this thing going the way of Vietnam?
Why do we never learn?
Yeah, it'll be all peaches 'n cream after we round up those pesky car bombers.
According to the generals on the ground that Bush claims to listen to, the insurgency is being overshadowed by the "not-a-civil-war" violence between the Sunni's and Shia, as well as some old fashioned crime, like rape and kidnapping, that take place in sectors designated by the U.S. military as "secure", since they can drive a Humvee with a 50 caliber mount through the streets and no one attacks them.
The fact that many of the death squads are made up of uniformed Iraqi police doesn't help this "law enforcement issue" either.
No matter what anybody says, Yoni is here to defend this Administration (the same way Dan and Boutons are here to attack it).
In this mater yes.
There are plenty of issues over which I disagree with this administration. Our foreign policy, vis-a-vis, Iraq and the overall war on terror isn't one of them.
"Pay no attention to the disaster behind the curtain".:
Good old Yoni, down on his knees servicing dubya, head, rummy, and all dubya's cowboys. The HUGE Repug (Iraq) elephant in the room, and Yoni's sucking that one off, too.
My old stomping grounds.
Exactly...these are all rumors. Thanks for making my point.
It is well-known by political analysts the Repugs' rise in the south is directly related to A er/Rove types making hidden appeals to racism in the South.
And of course, a key Repug campaign tactic is to intimidate and disenfranchise as many blacks as possible.
I'm almost tempted to take Yoni off "Ignore" to get a good laugh at his desperate attempts to defend the bush admin.
Yoni is martyring himself for his false prophet al-Dubaya
=======
dubya FINALLY goes before the NAACP and sticks his boot in his mouth:
"I value the black vote"
... while the blacks were wondering :
"But does he value the black PEOPLE?"
The Repugs aren't the main home of racism today? GMAFB
What exactly does GW need to do to show the black people he "values" them? Please enlighten us.Yoni is martyring himself for his false prophet al-Dubaya
=======
dubya FINALLY goes before the NAACP and sticks his boot in his mouth:
"I value the black vote"
... while the blacks were wondering :
"But does he value the black PEOPLE?"
The Repugs aren't the main home of racism today? GMAFB
Well, this disaster didn't help him any.
Yep, that was ALL GW's doing wasn't it?Well, this disaster didn't help him any.
Who leaked this information!
Wow I guess there are no moderates on this board. Either you're a fat right leaning elephant or a left leaning jack ass... Politics in this country is out of control... Do you really think dems or repubs care about what the citizens of this country want... No they're constantly telling us what we are interested in or what's best for us. Its in my opinion that everyone has their own opinion and because we are forcing our beliefs down each others throats we have forgotten tolerance and duty to this country. To our right to free will. All we have are career politicians who are out of touch with Americans unless we send large contributions to their parties... It’s a plutocracy... Everyone wants to complain but they do not seek action in their communities... It’s easy to hide behind your beliefs on a message board... But will you stand up for your beliefs out in the streets? Probably not... We are all guilty and I'm not excluding myself... Truth of the matter is everyone is afraid of change... the status quo is easier to deal with than the changing of the guard... Where every you pledge your allegiance just remember... We are all Americans here... And we need a change... Its starts with "W's" and "Clintons’"... They all need to go...
Clinton is gone. Let's start with W.
I pity the fool who has to clean up after this guy. An impossible task. If there is anything left to clean. We will have to do it alone and surrounded by those that despise us. Not the best place to begin a new start. You're right. We are all in this together. We should have acted sooner.
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