Coalition praised and condemned in UN Iraq report
A UN human rights report today credited the US-led coalition with ending years of violations by Saddam Hussein’s regime, but also cited concerns over prisoner abuse.
“The fall of Saddam Hussein removed a government that preyed on the Iraqi people and committed shocking, systematic and criminal violations of human rights,” said the report by the UN high commissioner for human rights.
“After the occupation of Iraq by coalition forces there have, sadly, been some violations of human rights, committed by some coalition soldiers,” the report said.
“Governmental leaders of the countries concerned have, at the highest levels, condemned these violations and have pledged to bring those responsible to justice and to uphold the rule of law. It is imperative that this be done, with accountability to the international community.”
Iraq’s interim government, set to take over sovereignty next month from the Coalition Provisional Authority currently running the country, must ensure Iraqis do not face abuses in the future, it said.
“The serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law that have taken place must not be allowed to recur. Preventive and protection systems must be put in place.”
Acting UN human rights chief Bertrand Ramcharan ordered the broad ranging investigation in April, saying he was concerned because Iraq has been unmonitored by the world body since the US-led invasion in March, 2003.
The 53-nation UN Human Rights Commission, the world’s top rights watchdog body, scrutinised Iraq for years when Saddam Hussein was in power, but the issue has been dropped since his ousting.
Human rights groups say monitoring is essential because ordinary Iraqis are suffering in the conflict between coalition forces and insurgents.
A UN team collected information from the Coalition Provisional Authority and individual governments involved in the occupation, including the United States and Britain.
It also turned to foreign aid groups and Iraqi UN employees.
But it didn’t travel to the Iraq largely because of security concerns, said Jose Diaz, Ramcharan’s spokesman.
The United Nations withdrew its international staff from Iraq after the bombing of its offices in Baghdad last August. UN rights chief Sergio Vieira de Mello was among those killed in the blast.
