Actually, it was totally out of hand back when Saddam was in charge.
Posted on 09/21/2006 10:37:55 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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.
Now, they torture terrorists.
I think now is better.
This stuff isn't fit for print.
I think at least part of it is that forces outside of the control of the government (terrorist groups, militias, etc.) are torturing people by their own initiative. The report as I understand it is that the lack of control by the government allows these things to happen; whereas under Saddam torture was state-sanctioned now it occurs in spite of the state.
Because we all know that Saddamy played by the rules.
OMG. Have these people ever heard of the Geneva Convention, don't they know John McCain, Lindsey Lap Dog Graham, Warner, Snowe, et al?
They better get their act together. We'll sic a bunch of lawyers on their butts. Pronto.
The existence of the United Nations is becoming more torture than I can bear.
As soon as the UN documents Iraq prisons putting people through plastic shreaders I'll start to listen to "worse" comparisons. Until they can document over 5,000 innocent Iraqis dying per month, as they documented under Hussein, they're lying to the world.
Until then, they can go pound salt.
T. Bubba Bechtol, part time City Councilman from Pensacola, Florida, was
asked on a local live radio talk show the other day just what he thought of
the allegations of torture of the Iraqi prisoners. His reply prompted his
ejection from the studio, but to thunderous applause from the audience.
"If hooking up an Iraqi prisoner's scrotum to a car's battery cables will
save one American GI's life, then I have just two things to say:
"Red is positive, black is negative"
Actually, it was totally out of hand back when Saddam was in charge.
"the U.N. anti-torture chief said Thursday"
And where were all their reports during Saddam's reign?
Oh that's right, they couldn't get such first-hand reports from the closed, stalinist society under Saddam.
And, that difference means what to them? Nothing, because, for them it is not really about the torture, it is about their old friend Saddam vs the new turburlent society-in-the-making and yes that process includes violence, but let no one pretend that keeping Saddam in power would have been preferable.
Can't do it. The penguin on the telly blew up. (see Monty Python)
Does the UN have a Pro-torture chief? (Balance, you know)
Priceless!
Unbelievably
Nuts
that's what UN stands for.
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