Egyptian paper prints front page photos of four Iraqi women being raped by U.S. soldiers

Arabs want justice for Iraq abuses
Rights group calls for un probe, international tribunal


Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, May 05, 2004



Anger and indignation rippled across Arab capitals Tuesday amid calls for US soldiers suspected of having taken part in humiliating abuse of Iraqi prisoners to be tried by an international tribunal.

Egypt's opposition daily Al-Wafd splashed four pictures on its front page showing what it said were Iraqi women being raped by soldiers.

"The democracy of the American empire of evil and prostitution: mass rapes by US occupation soldiers of Iraqi women under the threat of arms," Al-Wafd said in a banner headline.

The Egyptian Organization of Human Rights (EOHR) joined the fray, slamming the United States and calling for a UN probe and the establishment of an international tribunal to try those responsible.

These reports "are a shock for human rights activists because we thought that such torture was limited to the Third World," EOHR secretary-general Hafez Abu Saada said.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail expressed his "deep sorrow" and called for an end to the occupation of Iraq.

The United Arab Emirates daily Al-Khaleej expressed its outrage at what it called the lame sanctions slapped on US soldiers suspected of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

"The torture of Iraqi detainees has been punished ... by a simple reprimand," the daily said, adding that this shows the "arrogance" of the US occupation forces in Iraq.

"This scandal should be taken to the courts that deal with war crimes," it said.

A coalition official in Iraq said on condition of anonymity that six US Army officers have received the harshest possible reprimand, which could end their military careers, while a seventh has been handed a "letter of admonishment."

All of the seven are now appealing. Six US prison guards have also been charged with criminal conduct and four are under investigation.

One soldier's lawyer said Tuesday the accused soldiers were merely "following orders," and it is the superiors who gave those orders who should be held accountable.

Attorney Guy Womack told NBC television that Specialist Charles Graner "was following orders ... The people we should hold accountable are the people above them who gave those orders."

US authorities Tuesday freed some 240 inmates from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, where it is alleged prisoners have been abused.

The authorities regularly free inmates from Abu Ghraib but some 5,000 so-called "security detainees" remain inside, some of whom have been held since the US-led invasion of the country in March last year which toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

In Geneva, Jose Diaz, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, said a UN team was collecting information about alleged abuses from media reports, the US-led coalition, foreign aid groups and Iraqi UN employees as part of an investigation into the claims.

The scandal threatened to widen on Tuesday as US lawmakers emerging from a closed-door briefing with Defense Department officials said similar abuses - though "small in number" - may also have occurred at other Iraqi facilities and in Afghanistan.

"There were some incidents in Afghanistan," said Senator John Warner, who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"We did not get the full details but were left with the impression that they were relatively isolated and certainly small in number."

As the abuse scandal continued, Iraqi militiamen launched major attacks against a US base in the holy city of Najaf and government buildings guarded by Bulgarian forces in Karbala, a day after intense clashes in Najaf that killed up to 20 Iraqis.

No coalition troops were killed in the violence, but four US soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division died after their vehicle overturned during a combat patrol north of Baghdad, according to the US Army.

Sporadic overnight mortar attacks on the US base in Najaf followed intense fighting on Monday between US forces and militiamen loyal to radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

But the military has been cautious about returning fire. Sadr's office is located only a few meters from one of the holiest Shiite shrines and not far from the US base. US officials repeatedly have accused militiamen of storing weapons in shrines and mosques.

Sadr's forces, which launched an uprising across southern Iraq in early April, have stepped up attacks in recent days - apparently either to pressure US officials to negotiate an end to the standoff or to goad troops into retaliating and raising Shiite anger. - Agencies