01 April 2003
Report Documents Iraq's Deplorable Human Rights Record in 2002
(Annual report says regime continued "numerous, serious" abuses) (1000) By Vicki Silverman Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The Department of State's 2002 Human Rights report on Iraq documents the unabated, serious and systemic actions of the regime of Saddam Hussein to suppress the Iraqi people's freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and movement. The annual report, released March 31, 2003, reports that numerous international human rights organizations continued to receive reports of politically motivated arrests, torture, and extra-judicial killings in the areas under regime control. The report notes that the Iraqi judiciary was not independent and, "there was no check on the President's power to override any court decision." In 1999 the U.N. Special Rapporteur monitoring the human rights situation in Iraq and international human rights groups "observed that the repressive nature of the political and legal systems precludes the rule of law," amounting to a denial of fair public trial, the report noted. With the exception of a four-day visit in February 2002 by the U.N. Special Rapporteur, the regime prevented international human rights organizations from entering Iraq to investigate allegations, the report said. It added that the regime did not allow the development of independent Iraqi human rights organizations in the areas under its control. The regime of Saddam Hussein has failed to provide further information on human rights issues raised in previous reports, including accounting for the large number of disappearances that occurred during its brief military takeover of Erbil in northern Iraq in 1996, the report said. The report said the regime continued to ignore more than 16,000 documented disappearance cases conveyed to it in 1994 and 1995. "Despite several well-publicized exchanges with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, the regime effectively ignored requests from those Governments to account for those who disappeared during Iraq's 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait," it said. It added, "Of 609 cases of missing Kuwaiti citizens under review by the Tripartite Commission on Gulf War Missing, only 3 have been resolved." The 42-page report presented statistics gathered from a number of human rights organizations. In 2001, Amnesty International reported that the Iraqi regime had the world's worst record of persons who disappeared and remain unaccounted for. This view encompasses the disappearance of between 70,000-150,000 persons of Kurdish origin during the regime's 1988 Anfal campaign. Allegations were received in 2002 that the regime continued to harass and expel ethnic Kurds and Turkmen, forcing residents from their homes, confiscating property and denying targeted groups access to food ration cards. The regime's arbitrary arrest of Kurds in Khanaqin and subsequent confiscation of their property were even reported by the Iraqi Press, the report said. As in previous years, the State Department's 2002 Human Rights Report noted the Iraqi regime's use of torture and other cruel, degrading acts to repress its citizens. "According to former prisoners, torture techniques included branding, electric shock administered to the genitals and other areas, beatings, removal of fingernails, amputations without anesthesia, burning with hot irons and blowtorches, suspension from rotating ceiling fans, dripping of acid on the skin, rape, breaking of limbs, denial of food and water, extended solitary confinement..." The report continues, "There were numerous allegations of politically motivated torture and reports of torture against family members, including the children, of suspected critics of the regime. For instance, a Health Coordinator for the refugee health program in Yemen alleged in January [2002] that an Iraqi child under her care, bearing the marks of needle scars on its wrists and forearms, had reportedly been injected with an agent that caused severe mental retardation in retaliation for the father's suspected opposition to the regime." The report reminds readers that within the areas controlled by Baghdad, Iraqi citizens did not have the right to change the regime, despite regime efforts to appear democratic through an October 2002 referendum on Saddam Hussein's presidency. "Full political participation at the national level is restricted to members of the Arab Ba'th Socialist Party, who were estimated to constitute approximately 8 percent of the population. The political system is dominated by the Party, which governed through the Revolutionary Command Council. President Saddam Hussein heads the council. The RCC exercises both executive and legislative authority. The RCC dominates the National Assembly, which is completely subordinate to it and the executive branch. Opposition political organizations were illegal and severely suppressed. Membership in certain political parties was punishable by death," the report notes. In tandem with the regime's political repression is its control of all Iraqi media outlets, including the nation's 500 civilian computers with Internet access. The State Department report notes that a 2002 Freedom House report rated press freedom in Iraq at 96 out of a possible 100 points, with The report notes the sharp contrast between the regime and areas governed by the Kurdish parties in northern Iraq on numerous human rights issues, such as freedom of the press. "In the north, many independent newspapers appeared over the past 8 years, as did opposition radio and television broadcasts...Satellite services and related equipment for telephone, fax, Internet, and television services were available... The Internet was available widely through Internet cafes in major urban centers in Kurdish-controlled areas," the report said. The report also notes continued regime interference in personal religious practices, including consistent efforts to politicize and interfere with Muslim religious pilgrimages. In April 2002, the regime issued a new decree to all hospitals and bureaus registering births and deaths prohibiting the registration of Christian names, the report said. The 2002 State Department Human Rights Report is an annual report mandated by the U.S. Congress to reflect America's commitment to advancing internationally agreed human rights principles throughout the world. The full text of the report on Iraq is available at http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/text2003/0331hmnrightsrpt.htm. All reports are available online at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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