U.N. expert: Iraq torture may be worse

[Guest guest]

By ELIANE ENGELER, Associated Press Writer

 

GENEVA - Torture in Iraq may be worse now than it was under Saddam

Hussein, with militias, terrorist groups and government forces

disregarding rules on the humane treatment of prisoners, the U.N.

anti-torture chief said Thursday.

 

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture, made the

remarks as he was presenting a report on detainee conditions at the

U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay as well as to brief the U.N. Human

Rights Council, the global body's top rights watchdog, on torture

worldwide.

 

Reports from Iraq indicate that torture " is totally out of hand, " he

said. " The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has

been in the times of Saddam Hussein. "

 

Nowak added, " That means something, because the torture methods

applied under Saddam Hussein were the worst you could imagine. "

 

Some allegations of torture were undoubtedly credible, with government

forces among the perpetrators, he said, citing " very serious

allegations of torture within the official Iraqi detention centers. "

 

" You have terrorist groups, you have the military, you have police,

you have these militias. There are so many people who are actually

abducted, seriously tortured and finally killed, " Nowak told reporters

at the U.N.'s European headquarters.

 

" It's not just torture by the government. There are much more brutal

methods of torture you'll find by private militias, " he said.

 

A report by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq's Human Rights office

cited worrying evidence of torture, unlawful detentions, growth of

sectarian militias and death squads, and a rise in " honor killings " of

women.

 

Iraq's government, set up in 2006, is " currently facing a generalized

breakdown of law and order which presents a serious challenge to the

institutions of Iraq " such as police and security forces and the legal

system, the U.N. report said, noting that torture was a major concern.

 

Nowak has yet to make an official visit to Iraq and said such a

mission would be unfeasible as long as the security situation there

remains perilous. He based his comments on interviews with people

during a visit to Amman, Jordan, and other sources.

 

" You find these bodies with very heavy and very serious torture

marks, " he said. " Many of these allegations, I have no doubt that they

are credible. "

 

According to the U.N. report, the number of Iraqi civilians killed in

July and August hit 6,599, a record-high that is far greater than

initial estimates suggested, the U.N. report said Wednesday.

 

It attributed many of the deaths to rising sectarian tensions that

have pushed Iraq toward civil war.

 

___

 

Associated Press writers Bradley S. Klapper in Geneva and Nick Wadhams

at the United Nations contributed to this report.

 

http://news./s/ap/20060921/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_iraq_torture