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Sunnis demand UN inquiry into Iraq ministry's torture chamber
Leading Sunni politicians in Iraq have demanded an international inquiry following the discovery that 173 people had been tortured and held captive in an interior ministry bunker.
They claim such abuse was regularly carried out by paramilitaries connected to the government and accuse US forces of giving it "the green light".
The call for an independent inquiry was backed by the United Nations' special investigator on torture. But the Badr Organisation, a Shia militia suspected of responsibility for the mistreatment of the mainly Sunni prisoners, has denied any involvement.
The organisation also said that a raid by American forces on the underground complex in central Baghdad which led to the prisoners being found was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and an attempt to gain favour with Sunnis ahead of the national elections.
The discovery of the prisoners, most of them starving, some allegedly flayed, is an embarrassment to the US administration, which has pledged to end abuse by the Iraqi government. Manfred Nowak, the UN special investigator on torture, backed the call for an independent investigation. He said: "What we hear is shocking, but we have received allegations of these secret places in Iraq for quite a long time. It only means that there is a need for an impartial and independent investigation."
A guard at the complex in Jadriyahdescribed how prisoners were brought there after being arrested. "We placed sacks over their heads and tied their hands behind their backs," said Seif Saad, an 18-year-old former labourer who has never received police training. "They were brought here for interrogations over bombings. Some were released, some were sent to prisons. They were brought here if they were suspected of terrorism, it didn't matter whether they were Sunnis, Shias or Kurds."
Hussein Kamal, the Deputy Interior Minister, who visited the bunker, said: "I never thought I would witness scenes like these. I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beatings, one or two detainees were paralysed and some had the skin peeled off parts of their bodies." He also revealed that "instruments of torture" were found in the building.
Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article327524.ece
The call for an independent inquiry was backed by the United Nations' special investigator on torture. But the Badr Organisation, a Shia militia suspected of responsibility for the mistreatment of the mainly Sunni prisoners, has denied any involvement.
The organisation also said that a raid by American forces on the underground complex in central Baghdad which led to the prisoners being found was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and an attempt to gain favour with Sunnis ahead of the national elections.
The discovery of the prisoners, most of them starving, some allegedly flayed, is an embarrassment to the US administration, which has pledged to end abuse by the Iraqi government. Manfred Nowak, the UN special investigator on torture, backed the call for an independent investigation. He said: "What we hear is shocking, but we have received allegations of these secret places in Iraq for quite a long time. It only means that there is a need for an impartial and independent investigation."
A guard at the complex in Jadriyahdescribed how prisoners were brought there after being arrested. "We placed sacks over their heads and tied their hands behind their backs," said Seif Saad, an 18-year-old former labourer who has never received police training. "They were brought here for interrogations over bombings. Some were released, some were sent to prisons. They were brought here if they were suspected of terrorism, it didn't matter whether they were Sunnis, Shias or Kurds."
Hussein Kamal, the Deputy Interior Minister, who visited the bunker, said: "I never thought I would witness scenes like these. I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beatings, one or two detainees were paralysed and some had the skin peeled off parts of their bodies." He also revealed that "instruments of torture" were found in the building.
Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article327524.ece
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