24 November 1999
Text: Rubin Comments on Amnesty International Report on Repression in Iraq
(Amnesty and UN Report Agree on human rights violations)(690) Washington -- "Amnesty International's report highlights common Iraqi government practices including torture, ethnic cleansing, arbitrary arrest and detention, extra-judicial executions, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishments," said James E. Rubin, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs on November 24. "These mass human rights violations have instilled a climate of terror inside the country from which none can escape," Rubin added. Amnesty's report, entitled, "Iraq: Victims of Systematic Repression," addresses the continued human rights violations the government of Iraq inflicts daily on its people. "Atrocities identified in the report include mass executions of persons suspected of having links to opposition parties and mass expulsions of Kurdish, Turkoman and other non-Arab families," noted Rubin. He also said that as of May this year 91,000 people have been forcibly expelled from their homes and their property confiscated due to their non-Arab ethnicity. Rubin also said that the Amnesty report echoes the conclusions reached in October the UN Special Rapporteur for Iraq, who said the "Iraqi regime continues to be a systematic and egregious abuser of all norms of human rights." Noting these reports, Rubin concluded that "both reports make plain that Baghdad, and not the United Nations, is responsible and accountable for the deprivations being suffered by the Iraqi people, as Saddam has consciously chosen to let innocent people suffer while his regime postures and maneuvers to get sanctions lifted." Following is the text of the Rubin remarks: (Begin text) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman November 24, 1999 Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman Amnesty International Report on Repression in Iraq We call attention to a new report on Iraq released by the human rights organization Amnesty International. The report, entitled, "Iraq: Victims of Systematic Repression," addresses the continuing and egregious human rights violations the government of Iraq inflicts daily upon its people. Amnesty International's report highlights common Iraqi government practices including torture, ethnic cleansing, arbitrary arrest and detention, extra-judicial executions, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishments. These mass human rights violations have instilled a climate of terror inside the country from which none can escape. Atrocities identified in the report include mass executions of persons suspected of having links to opposition parties and mass expulsions of Kurdish, Turkoman and other non-Arab families. As of May 1999 at least 91,000 people had been forcibly expelled from their homes and their property confiscated due to their non-Arab ethnicity. People are abducted because they may have relatives involved with the opposition. For example, Saddam's plain-clothes security abducted and executed a 70-year old lawyer because his son-in-law was reportedly suspected of involvement in opposition activities. Numerous other examples of arbitrary arrest, torture and execution are given in the report. The random terror inflicted on the population is exemplified by the fate of a 35-year old father of three who worked as a traffic warden. Following an attempt on the life of Saddam's son Uday from a moving vehicle in December 1996, Saddam's forces arrested and tortured for months shopkeepers and people living in the district under the pretext that they must have known the assailants. The traffic warden was arrested, held for six months, and tortured to death. His crime: failure to notice the car the assailants had used. The Amnesty International report echoes the conclusion reached in October by United Nations Special Rapporteur for Iraq, Max van der Stoel, who said the Iraqi regime continues to be a systematic and egregious abuser of all norms of human rights. We note that the Amnesty International report, like that of the Special Rapporteur, addresses the effects of sanctions on the people of Iraq. Both reports make plain that Baghdad, and not the United Nations, is responsible and accountable for the deprivations being suffered by the Iraqi people, as Saddam has consciously chosen to let innocent people suffer while his regime postures and maneuvers to get sanctions lifted. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State)
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