Iraq
One year On - Human Rights Situation Eemains Dire
A Report By Amnesty
International
19 March, 2004
Introduction
A year after US-led
forces launched war on Iraq, the promise of improved human rights for
Iraqis remains far from realized. Most Iraqis still feel unsafe in a
country ravaged by violence.
Every day Iraqis
face threats to their lives and security. Violence is endemic, whether
in the form of attacks by armed groups, abuses by the occupying forces,
or violence against women. Millions of people have suffered the consequences
of destroyed or looted infrastructure, mass unemployment and uncertainty
about their future. And there is little or no confidence that those
responsible for past and present human rights abuses will be brought
to justice.
There have been
some welcome positive developments in the country, especially in the
field of freedom of expression, association and assembly. Dozens of
non-government organizations (NGOs), including organizations focusing
on women's rights, have been established, more than 80 daily and weekly
newspapers are published and scores of political parties and religious
organizations have emerged.
The people of Iraq,
however, urgently needs stability, security and peace, not more bloodshed.
Their future must be based on justice and the rule of law. This report,
published a year after the war began, outlines some of the major human
rights concerns that must be addressed if such a future is to be secured.
Background
Before the war began on 20 March 2003, Amnesty International (AI) warned
that military action would mean further suffering for a people who had
already suffered terribly as a result of government repression and the
devastating effects of economic sanctions. Some of AI's fears were borne
out. Hundreds of Iraqi civilians were killed and injured during the
war, some as a result of cluster bombs dropped by Coalition Forces.
Homes and vital institutions were destroyed, and whole communities were
cut off from electricity and water supplies.
By early April,
US forces controlled Baghdad and UK forces controlled southern Iraq.
On 1 May, US President George W. Bush declared the main combat operations
over and soon after Paul Bremer, a former US diplomat, had been appointed
as US Administrator for Iraq and Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority
(CPA). Iraq was a defeated and occupied country.
On 24 April, AI
delegates arrived in Basra -- the first time in 20 years that the organization
had been able to visit Iraq. The overriding concern of everyone they
met was the growing insecurity and violence. Basra was a city ravaged
by looting and lawlessness, a city where women and girls were too frightened
to go out alone for fear of rape, abduction and other violence.
Across Iraq, disorder,
fear and insecurity prevailed. In most places, US and UK troops stood
by as government buildings, offices, universities, schools, hospitals,
museums, libraries and warehouses were ransacked and demolished. Countless
documents vital to the future of Iraqis were burned or otherwise destroyed.
The Coalition Forces
had removed the previous government's authority, but had demonstrably
failed to provide the protection and assistance they were obliged to
give the people whose land they were occupying. Under international
humanitarian law, as occupying powers it was their duty to maintain
and restore public order, and provide food, medical care and relief
assistance. They failed in this duty, with the result that millions
of Iraqis faced grave threats to their health and safety.
The problem of insecurity
was heightened by the lack of appropriate policing and the wide availability
of arms. An increase in serious abuses against women, including rape
and murder, was reported, and scores of former Ba'ath Party and security
force members were targeted in revenge attacks, particularly in the
Shi'a dominated districts of Baghdad and in southern Iraq.
In July the CPA
appointed a 25-member Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) from the various
religious and ethnic groups. The Council had some executive powers,
but Paul Bremer retained power to overrule or veto its decisions. In
early September the IGC appointed an Iraqi interim government. The CPA
and IGC agreed in November on a power transfer to an interim Iraqi government
on 30 June 2004 and on 8 March 2004 the IGC signed an interim Constitution.
In the meantime,
new Iraqi human rights non-governmental organizations, including women's
groups, had begun to emerge and started work on a wide range of human
rights activities, including documenting past and recent violations.
New political parties and media outlets also emerged, and people freely
organized demonstrations for the first time in decades to express their
grievances. Reforms to the law introduced by the new authorities removed
the shadow of the death penalty and closed down courts that had been
a mockery to justice.
However, the positive
developments, along with almost everything else, were constantly threatened
by the mounting insecurity. AI repeatedly called on the occupying forces,
as a matter of urgency, to enforce law and order until Iraqi police
forces could operate effectively, and expedite the creation of an Iraqi
police force.
Some progress in
this direction has been made since the early months of the occupation,
particularly in the south of Iraq. Iraqis interviewed by AI delegates
in February and March 2004 in Basra and Amara, the two governorates
under the control of British troops, said the general situation had
improved, although lack of security was still a major concern. Members
of religious minorities, such as Sunni Muslims, Christians and Sabean/Mandeans,
felt they were being targeted for attacks and other abuses.
Elsewhere in Iraq,
however, violence and insecurity continue to dominate daily life. Attacks
on Iraqi police stations and Coalition Forces have steadily mounted.
Most have taken place in central and northern Iraq, as well as in Baghdad,
and have resulted in hundreds of deaths, mostly of Iraqis but also of
US and other nationals.
As the first anniversary
of the war approached, such attacks appeared to be intensifying. On
3 February US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said that there were an
average of 23 engagements a day between US soldiers and "Iraqi
insurgents", compared with 18 the week before.(1)
In response, Coalition
Forces appear in many cases to be using the climate of violence to justify
violating the very human rights standards they are supposed to be upholding.
They have shot Iraqis dead during demonstrations. They have tortured
and ill-treated prisoners and detainees. They have arrested people arbitrarily
and held them indefinitely without charge and without access to a lawyer.
They have demolished houses and other property in acts of revenge and
collective punishment. And they are operating in a legal framework that
offers no mechanism in Iraq for bringing members of the Coalition Forces
to justice for such acts.
Killings of civilians
More than 10,000
Iraqi civilians are thought to have been killed since 20 March 2003
as a direct result of the military intervention in Iraq, either during
the war or in violent incidents during the subsequent occupation. The
number is an estimate no one in authority in Iraq is willing
or able to catalogue the killings. "We don't have the capacity
to track all civilian casualties", admitted US Brigadier General
Mark Kimmitt in February 2004.(2) A different attitude has been shown
towards non-Iraqi civilians and soldiers who have been killed.
A year after the
war began, Iraqi civilians are still being killed every day. The worst
incidents receive some international coverage, but many killings simply
go unreported. Often, the assailants are unknown. On 4 March 2004 an
AFP journalist witnessed three Iraqi civilians being killed when a missile
hit their car and exploded near a US military base in southwest Baghdad.
Neither the journalist nor the Iraqi police could find out who fired
the rocket, and the names of the victims were not published.(3)
Killings by Coalition
Forces
Scores of civilians
have been killed apparently as a result of excessive use of force by
US troops or have been shot dead in disputed circumstances.
For example, US
soldiers have shot and killed scores of Iraqi demonstrators in several
incidents, including seven in Mosul on 15 April 2003, at least 15 in
Falluja on 29 April and at least two outside the Republican Palace in
Baghdad on 18 June.
In November 2003
the US military said it had paid out US $1.5 million to Iraqi civilians
to settle claims by victims or relatives of victims for personal injury,
death or damage to property. Some of the 10,402 claims reportedly filed
concerned incidents in which US soldiers had shot dead or seriously
wounded Iraqi civilians with no apparent cause.(4)
Beyond such payments,
however, there has been little recourse for the families of the dead
and injured. No US soldier has been prosecuted for illegally killing
an Iraqi civilian. Iraqi courts, because of an order issued by the US-led
authority in Baghdad in June, are forbidden from hearing cases against
US soldiers or any other foreign troops or foreign officials in Iraq.
In effect, US soldiers are operating with total impunity.
The following are
just a few cases that have been monitored by AI.
· On 14 May,
two US armed vehicles broke through the perimeter wall of the home of
Sa'adi Suleiman Ibrahim al-'Ubaydi in Ramadi. Soldiers beat him with
rifle butts and then shot him dead as he tried to flee.
· US forces
shot 12-year-old Mohammad al-Kubaisi as they carried out search operations
around his house in the Hay al-Jihad area in Baghdad on 26 June. He
was carrying the family bedding to the roof of his house when he was
shot. Neighbours tried to rush him by car to the nearby hospital, but
US soldiers stopped them. By the time they got back home, Mohammad al-Kubaisi
was dead. CPA officials told AI delegates in July that Mohammad al-Kubaisi
was carrying a gun when he was killed.
· On 17 September
a 14-year-old boy was killed and six people were injured when US troops
opened fire at a wedding party in Fallujah. The soldiers reportedly
believed they were under attack when shots were fired in the air in
celebration.
· On 23 September,
three farmers, 'Ali Khalaf, Sa'adi Faqri and Salem Khalil, were killed
and three others injured when US troops opened a barrage of gunfire
reportedly lasting for at least an hour in the village of al-Jisr near
Fallujah. A US military official stated that the troops came under attack
but this was vehemently denied by relatives of the dead. Later that
day, US military officials reportedly went to the farmhouse, took photographs
and apologized to the family.
AI has also documented numerous cases where British soldiers have resorted
to lethal force and killed Iraqi civilians even though their lives and
the lives of others did not appear to be in danger. In some of these
cases, no investigation has been carried out. In others, the investigation
appeared to be inadequate. Families of victims killed by the British
Army are usually given no information or inadequate information about
the mechanisms and procedures for investigations and compensation.
· Walid Fayay
Mazban, a driver aged 42, was shot dead by British soldiers on 24 August
at a junction near the Apache Military Camp in circumstances indicating
that no lives were in danger. Soldiers had set up a temporary checkpoint
at the junction, but street lights were not working so the whole area
was dark. When Walid Fayay Mazban failed to stop at the checkpoint,
he was shot several times in his back by a British soldier. Soldiers
found nothing of suspicion in his car. In September the British Army
paid around US$1,500 to his family on humanitarian grounds. The Royal
Military Police launched an investigation into the killing, but Walid
Fayay Mazban's family have been provided with no information on the
progress of the investigation.
AI has repeatedly
called for all killings of civilians by Coalition Forces to be thoroughly,
independently and impartially investigated and for perpetrators of unlawful
killings to be brought to justice. To date, no independent investigations
are known to have been held.
Killings by armed individuals
On 2 March 2004,
bombs exploded in a Shi'a mosque in the Kadhimiya neighbourhood of Baghdad
and in the Shi'a holy city of Karbala within seconds of each other,
killing around 170 civilians and injuring 500, almost all of them Shi'a
Muslims. The attacks appeared to have been carefully planned: a combination
of suicide bombs, planted explosives and possibly mortar fire.(5)
A month earlier,
101 people died as two suicide bomb attacks ripped apart the offices
of Kurdish political parties in the northern city of Arbil.
These bombings were
just two of the more recent attacks, apparently carried out by armed
groups, that have been a growing feature of life in Iraq since the occupation
began. The attacks have targeted the US military, Iraqi security personnel,
Iraqi-controlled police stations, religious leaders and buildings, media
workers, non-governmental organizations and UN agencies. They have resulted
in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of civilians.
Many other civilians
have been killed by shooting either targeted for assassination
or shot dead by stray bullets. In Basra, for example, such victims have
included former Ba'ath Party members and security or government officials,
as well as people suspected of selling or drinking alcohol. Some of
these killings appear to have been acts of revenge carried out by individuals.
Many, however, appear to have been organized, reportedly by armed Islamist
groups. The head of one police station in Basra openly endorsed revenge
killings, telling an AI delegate that families of victims of past abuses
"were in the right" for avenging the deaths of relatives by
the previous government.
AI has called on
armed groups to end the policy of attacking civilians and members of
international humanitarian agencies. It has also called on those responsible
for such crimes to be brought to justice and tried according to international
human rights standards.
The following list
highlights a few attacks. In not one of these cases have the perpetrators
been brought to justice.
· On 7 August
2003, 17 people were killed when a truck exploded outside Jordanian
embassy in Baghdad.
· On 19 August, 22 people were killed, including UN envoy Sergio
Vieira de Mello, by truck bomb on the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
· On 29 August: 83 people were killed, including Shi'a leader
Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, by a car bomb at the Imam Ali mosque
in Najaf.
· On 27 October, 35 people were killed in four bomb attacks in
Baghdad targeting the Red Cross and police stations.
· On 18 January 2004, 25 people were killed, most of them Iraqi
civilians, in a car bomb attack outside US headquarters in Baghdad.
Administration of justice
On 12 December,
65-year-old Amal Salim Madi, whose three sons were arrested in October,
joined a demonstration in Baghdad demanding rights for prisoners. She
said, "The Americans said they were taking [my sons] off for an
hour of questioning. We have not seen them since." (6)
Her sons are among
the new generation of missing people in Iraq. They are not ending up
in mass graves, as many did under the former Iraqi government, but they
are lost to their families held somewhere in the system of detention
centres being run by the occupying forces in Iraq. Adil Allami, a lawyer
with the Human Rights Organization of Iraq, said in October 2003: "Iraq
has turned into one big Guantanamo", referring to the US military
prison in Cuba where hundreds of individuals suspected of "terrorist"
acts remain held without charge.(7)
Ever since the war
began, AI has been receiving reports of Iraqis who have been taken into
detention by Coalition Forces and whose rights have been violated. Many
have been held without charge for weeks or months. Some have been tortured
and ill-treated. Virtually none has had prompt access to a lawyer, their
family or judicial review of their detention.
Such abuses in the
administration of justice have been facilitated by the general breakdown
in law and order, but also by inconsistent application of international
standards by the occupying forces.
After taking power,
the CPA reviewed the Iraqi Penal Code of 1969 and the Criminal Procedure
Code of 1971 to evaluate their compatibility with international human
rights standards. It also introduced legal amendments; these entered
into force prior to their publication in Arabic in the Official Gazette,
in contravention of Article 65 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The
amendments did, nevertheless, include some welcome reforms. Section
9 of CPA Memorandum No. 7 prohibited the use of torture and cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment. The Revolutionary, Special and
National Security Courts, which had conducted grossly unfair trials,
were abolished.
In June 2003, the
CPA issued Order No.13, establishing the Central Criminal Court of Iraq.
The court applies Iraqi law and has jurisdiction over crimes committed
in Iraq since 19 March 2003, including crimes against the Coalition
forces. In November 2003 the court sentenced the former governor of
Najaf to 14 years' imprisonment for "illegal arrest, destruction
of a government document and misuse of office." The court has also
looked at at least two other cases involving smuggling. Amnesty International
has not been able to attend trial proceedings of this court, but the
organization remains concerned that Order No.13 imposed the sweeping
condition that judges appointed to the court should not have been involved
in Ba'ath Party activity. It is also concerned that those selected are
appointed for a one-year term by the Administrator of the CPA. Such
conditions appear to violate the principle of judicial independence.
Section 2(3) of
CPA Memorandum No. 3 removed the jurisdiction of Iraqi courts over any
Coalition personnel in both civil and criminal matters, resulting in
a lack of accountability for such personnel. There are no proper mechanisms
to ensure competent, impartial investigations into allegations of violations
of international human rights and humanitarian law by the CPA or Coalition
Forces.
Incommunicado and
unlawful detention
The massive Abu
Ghraib prison on the southwest edge of Baghdad was the most feared detention
centre under the former Iraqi government. Today the building officially
goes by the name of Baghdad Correctional Facility, but little else has
changed. Relatives of those held inside still wait outside for news
of their loved ones, and lawyers are still turned away. One father was
told to come back in four months when he tried to visit his son in November.
"My son has already been in there for four months and he has been
charged with nothing", he told a member of International Occupation
Watch Center.(8)
The CPA published
a list of 8,500 detainees on the Internet. Most are being held indefinitely
and without charge as "suspected terrorists" or "security"
detainees.(9) Families waiting outside Abu Ghraib prison say most of
their relatives were picked up in indiscriminate raids.
Many Iraqis do not
know where their relatives are being held and the majority have no access
to the Internet to seek information about them. Some of those arrested
are taken to jails run by Iraqi police, others are taken to US-run centres
but often no one seems to have the relevant information. Those
in Iraqi jails usually have access to lawyers and judges at some point.
Many of those held in prisons and detention centres run by the Coalition
Forces such as Camp Cropper in Baghdad International Airport
(which closed in October), Abu Ghraib Prison and the detention centres
in Habbaniya Airport and Um Qasr have invariably been denied
access to family or lawyers and any form of judicial review of their
detention. Some have been held for weeks or months; others are apparently
being held beyond the prescribed 90 days for judicial review. AI has
also investigated cases in which Coalition Forces have failed to implement
promptly rulings by judges to release suspects.
In effect, there
is a two-tier system whereby people detained by the Coalition Forces
have fewer safeguards than those held by Iraqi officials. For example,
those detained by Coalition Forces can be held for 90 days before being
brought before a judge (according to CPA Memorandum No. 3), whereas
those detained within the framework of the Iraqi Code of Criminal Procedure
must have their case reviewed within 24 hours.
Conditions in many
of the detention centres are harsh. There have been many unconfirmed
reports of hunger strikes and revolts in prisons. The CPA acknowledged
that three prisoners were killed and eight wounded during an uprising
in Abu Ghraib prison on 24 November.
In Basra, scores
of people remain held without charge or trial in the British-controlled
al-Shu'aiba detention centre near al-Zubair. Some were held in Um Qasr
before being transferred. Also in Basra, armed Islamist groups have
been involved in the arrest, detention and torture of people whom they
suspect of "immoral" activities such as selling alcohol, videos
or CDs.
· Qays Mohammad
Abd al-Karim al-Salman, a businessman with Danish citizenship, returned
to Iraq 10 days before his arrest by the US army on 6 May. He alleged
he was forced to lie down on the road, then taken to the Holding Centre
at Baghdad Airport where he was held for 33 days on suspicion of murder
before being released without charge. He was denied contact with the
outside world and ill-treated.
· Zakariya
Zakher Sa'ad, aged 55, an Egyptian nightwatchman for the Russian Consul
in Baghdad, was arrested by US soldiers investigating an attempted theft
at the Consulate. Neighbours tried to tell the soldiers that he was
the guard, not the thief, but the soldiers would not listen. The soldiers
threw Zakariya Zakher Sa'ad to the ground, tied him and took him away.
Until July 2003 he had been held at Camp Cropper, although his family
had not been able to see him to confirm his whereabouts. Amnesty International
does not have any information as to whether his still detained or not.
· Humam 'Abd
al-Khaleq 'Abd al-Ghaffur, a nuclear physicist, was arrested in his
home in Baghdad on 20 April 2003. His whereabouts remain unknown.
· Hussain
al-Haery, a professor at Baghdad University, was arrested at his house
in early July 2003. He is currently held in Abu Ghraib.
· Sa'doun
Hamadi, the former parliament speaker, was arrested on 29 May 2003 and
detained without charge or trial for nearly nine months before his release
on 14 February. He was held in three different places, Camp Cropper
at Baghdad International Airport, Um Qasr and then Abu Ghraib Prison.
On his release US authorities stated that there was no security justification
for his detention.
AI has written to
the CPA asking for clarification on the reasons for the continued detention
and legal status of a number of people, including scientists, former
diplomats and civil servants. It has yet to receive a response.
Torture and ill-treatment
Abdallah Khudhran
al-Shamran, a Saudi Arabian national, was arrested in al-Rutba in early
April 2003 by US and allied Iraqi forces while travelling from Syria
to Baghdad. On reaching an unknown site, he said he was beaten, given
electric shocks, suspended by his legs, had his penis tied and was subjected
to sleep deprivation. He was held there for four days before being transferred
to a camp hospital in Um Qasr. He was then interrogated and released
without money or passport. He approached a British soldier, whereupon
he was taken to another place of detention, then transferred to a military
field hospital and again interrogated and tortured. This time torture
methods reportedly included prolonged exposure in the sun, being locked
in a container, and being threatened with execution.
Such reports of
torture or other ill-treatment by Coalition Forces have been frequent
in the past year. In the first weeks of the war and occupation, detainees
suffered extreme heat while housed in tents and were supplied with insufficient
water, inadequate washing facilities, open trenches for toilets, no
change of clothes, and no books, newspapers, radios or writing materials.
Since then, detainees have reported being routinely subjected to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment during arrest and the first 24 hours
of detention. Plastic handcuffs used by US troops have caused detainees
unnecessary pain. Former detainees have said they were forced to lie
face down on the ground, were held handcuffed, hooded or blindfolded,
and were not given water or food or allowed to go to the toilet.
Many detainees have
alleged they were tortured and ill-treated by US and UK troops during
interrogation. Methods often reported include prolonged sleep deprivation;
beatings; prolonged restraint in painful positions, sometimes combined
with exposure to loud music; prolonged hooding; and exposure to bright
lights. Virtually none of the allegations of torture or ill-treatment
has been adequately investigated.
In Basra, at least
four people have died in British custody. In one case, the cause of
death was torture. Several people interviewed by AI described being
tortured by British soldiers during interrogation.
· Eight Iraqis
arrested on 14 September by British soldiers from the British military
base Camp Steven in Basra were reportedly tortured. The men all worked
for a hotel in Basra where weapons were reported to have been found.
Baha' al-Maliki, the hotel's receptionist, died in custody three days
later; his body was reportedly severely bruised and covered in blood.
Kefah Taha was admitted to hospital in critical condition, suffering
renal failure and severe bruising.
· In February
2004, during a hearing into the death in June 2003 of Najem Sa'doun
Hattab at Camp Whitehorse detention centre near Nassiriya, a former
US marine testified that it was common practice to kick and punch prisoners
who did not cooperate and even some who did. The marine had been
granted immunity from prosecution for his testimony. Najem Sa'doun Hattab,
a former Ba'ath Party official, died after he was beaten and choked
by a US marine reservist.(10)
House demolitions
and searches
On 10 November 2003,
US soldiers arrived at the farmhouse of the Najim family near the town
of al-Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. They ordered everyone who lived there
to leave within 30 minutes. Soon afterwards, two F-16 warplanes bombed
and destroyed the farmhouse.
The demolition was
apparently in retaliation for an attack on a US convoy a few days earlier.
Soon after the attack, US soldiers had arrested six men outside the
Najim house reportedly after weapons were found there. The destruction
of the Najim home was just one of several similar retaliatory house
demolitions that have been reported. Such acts reprisals against
people or their property, and collective punishments -- are clearly
prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention.
AI has learned of
at least 15 other houses that have been destroyed by US forces since
November during military operations in Tikrit. In one case, a family
in al-Haweda village was given just five minutes to leave their house
before it was razed to the ground by US tanks and helicopter fire.
Major Lou Zeisman,
a US military official from the 82nd Airborne Division, reportedly said:
"If you shoot at an American or Coalition force member, you are
going to be killed or you are going to be captured, and if we trace
somebody back to a specific safe house, we are going to destroy that
facility
"(11)
AI also continues
to receive many reports of members of the Coalition Forces damaging
and destroying property without justification during house searches.
Soldiers have smashed their way into cars, houses and cupboards after
the owners have offered keys and begged that they be used. In numerous
cases, property and large sums of money have been "confiscated"
during an arrest and not returned when the person is released.
In one case, US
officers accepted that there was evidence that a crime had been committed
by officers who took more than three million dinars (US$2,000) from
a family's home. They added, however, that redress would be long and
difficult as they lacked the means to investigate.
Victims of lawlessness
A sudden barrage
of shooting rang out in the bustling Old Basra Street on 15 February
2004. When it finished, at least nine people were dead the latest
victims of attacks on suspected alcohol vendors in Basra. The attackers
were unknown, but widely suspected to be members of Shi'a armed political
groups which have appeared after the war. A frightened salesman, Tarik
Mahmoud, said: "There are no laws to protect me, and even if a
law existed, I would still be afraid because people are used to killing
each other."(12)
The lack of law
and order continues to be a major concern in many areas of Iraq. AI
delegates witnessed firsthand the devastating impact the lawlessness
is having on the lives of ordinary Iraqis, whether it be looting, revenge
killings, kidnappings or violent sexual crimes.
Violence against
women
In the aftermath
of war, women and girls have increasingly faced violent attacks, including
abduction, rape and murder, as a result of the breakdown of law and
order. Many women were too afraid to leave their homes, and girls were
being kept away from school. Women who have been victims of violence
in the street or home have virtually no hope of obtaining justice.
In May 2003, for
example, Asma, a young engineer, was abducted in Baghdad. She was shopping
with her mother, sister and a male relative when six armed men started
shooting around them. Asma was forced into a car and driven to a farmhouse
outside Baghdad, where she was said to have been repeatedly raped. A
day later she was driven back to her parents' neighbourhood and pushed
out of the car.
In Basra, women
and girls not wearing the hijab have been threatened by Islamist groups
and now almost all cover themselves.
Samira Abd al-Munim,
who works in Basra's teaching hospital, told AI delegates in May: "Because
of the insecurity, my life is extremely limited. I cannot visit my family
or go to the market without the company of my husband
I don't
dare walk on my own as I used to
My children are almost imprisoned
in the house for their safety."
In some cases women
who have been campaigning to protect women's rights have been threatened.
Yanar Mohammed, a member of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq,
has reportedly received several death threats, including one by email
from an Islamist group known as the Army of Sahaba. When she asked CPA
officials for protection, she was allegedly told there were more urgent
matters to attend to. A number of women working for the CPA have been
killed. AI is not aware of any steps that have been taken by the CPA
or IGC to ensure adequate protection of women's human rights and women
activists.
Accountability
for past violations
Ensuring justice
is fundamental for the countless victims of human rights violations
in Iraq. They have suffered decades of grave violations by Iraqi government
agents as well as abuses committed during the course of several conflicts,
including the recent war and its aftermath.
To date, little
action has been taken to address past human rights violations, including
mass "disappearances", or to investigate and bring to justice
those found responsible for committing crimes against humanity, genocide
and war crimes, or to provide compensation and restitution to victims.
In December the Iraqi Governing Council established the statute of the
Iraqi Special Tribunal in order to try Saddam Hussain and other former
Iraqi officials, as well as a Committee on Truth and Reconciliation.
However, it remains to be seen whether these will be effective and will
help to gain justice for victims in accordance with international standards.
In order to be fair
and effective, all measures aimed at obtaining justice must conform
to international human rights and standards. Neither victims nor suspected
perpetrators of abuses should receive second class justice.
In relation to former
Iraqi government officials, AI has continued to stress the need for
ensuring fairness. Any tribunal must be competent, impartial and independent,
and suspects must be pursued solely on the basis of the evidence against
them and through a fair process. There should be no statute of limitations
and no amnesties, pardons or similar measures for crimes under international
law if such measures would prevent a conclusive verdict and full reparations
for victims. There should be the right to appeal and no recourse to
the death penalty or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
Victims and their families must have effective means to obtain full
reparation for the violations they have suffered.
AI has recommended
that Iraqi judicial experts work with international experts to assess
the Iraqi judicial system, including its capacity to ensure fair trials,
and explore options for bring perpetrators of abuse to justice.
Conclusion and recommendations
After a year of
war, lawlessness, spiralling violence and economic hardship, Iraqis
face an uncertain future. For the next year to be better than the last,
the occupying forces, the Iraqi Governing Council, the next Iraqi interim
administration and the international community must make a real commitment
to protecting and promoting the full range of human rights.
Fundamental changes
to Iraq's legal, judicial and penal systems are needed. Human rights
must be at the centre of all efforts to rebuild and reconstruct Iraq.
A failure to fully protect human rights in the process of change would
be a betrayal of the Iraqi people, who have suffered so much in the
past.
AI calls on the
Coalition Provisional Authority, the Coalition Forces and the Iraqi
Governing Council to:
· Ensure
that soldiers fully abide by law enforcement standards and use force
in line with the principles of necessity and proportionality. In particular,
they should use firearms only if lives are in danger and there is no
other means to respond to that danger.
· Ensure
that Iraqi police replace soldiers for law enforcement duties as soon
as possible provided they are given appropriate equipment and training,
including on international standards for law enforcement.
· Provide
a unified legal system whereby all criminal suspects are treated in
the same way and afforded all safeguards provided for in international
law. The rights of all suspects must be fully respected regardless of
which authority is responsible for holding them.
· Clarify
without delay the fate and whereabouts of everyone held in custody.
· Amend CPA
Memorandum No. 3 to ensure that all criminal suspects can be brought
before a judicial authority promptly after arrest and have the lawfulness
and necessity of their detention reviewed. The Memorandum should also
be amended to ensure detainees have a right to prompt access to a lawyer
and that their families are promptly notified of the detention.
· Clarify
and make public the disciplinary and criminal mechanisms of accountability
for the CPA and Coalition Forces.
· Ensure
that the prohibition of torture and any other form of ill-treatment
is absolutely respected by Coalition Forces, Iraqi police and any other
forces involved in detaining suspects.
· Ensure
that all investigations into alleged abuses by Coalition Forces are
conducted by a body that is competent, impartial and independent, and
seen to be so, and that any findings of such investigations are made
public.
· Provide
reparations, including compensation to the victims or to their families.
· Improve
conditions of detention so that they comply fully with the Standard
Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
· Immediately
stop any policy of unlawful destruction of property and collective punishment,
and make clear to all US forces that such actions are prohibited. All
families whose houses or other property have been destroyed in such
actions should be fully compensated.
********
(1) AP, 3 February
2004
(2) Reuters 12 Feb
2004
(3) AFP 4 March
2004
(4) Guardian, 26
November 2003
(5) AFP and Reuters
4 March 2004
(6) AFP, 12 December
2003
(7) agency/date
not clear
(8) Searching for
Yunis and how many others? International Occupation Watch Centre,
David Enders, 28 November 2003.
(9) Searching for
Yunis and how many others? International Occupation Watch Centre,
David Enders, 28 November 2003.
(10) Union-Tribune,
3 February 2004, by Rick Rogers
(11) LA Times, 12
November 2003
(12) International
Press, Edward Wong, 19 February 2004