Annan Says Coalition May Be Violating Law

[cal04]

U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraq's authorities may be violating international law by arbitrarily detaining thousands of people, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report published Tuesday. The report, which studied the situation in Iraq over the last three months, said Iraq's prison system remains a major concern and lamented that an investigation into allegations of torture in Iraqi Interior Ministry jails had not yet been made public as promised.

Annan's criticism of Multinational Forces and the Iraqi authorities in responding to violence was among the strongest he has made, although many of his claims were not new. He said the detainment of thousands of Iraqis ``constitutes de facto arbitrary detention.'' ``The extent of such practices is not consistent with provisions of international law governing internment on imperative reasons of security,'' the report said.

While Annan praised Iraq's December elections, he also noted a rise in sectarian strife and said attacks against places of worship were higher than ever. Baghdad's Forensic Institute alone received 787 bodies, 479 of which had gunshot wounds, since early December. ``Repeated bombings against civilians, mosques and more recently against churches are creating fear, animosity and feelings of revenge,'' Annan wrote.

Annan also demanded that Iraqi and coalition forces release the results of an investigation into allegations of torture at an Interior Ministry detention center in Baghdad's Jadiriyah district. He said the results were supposed to have been published at the end of November. The results of a separate inquiry into detention conditions in Iraq have also not been published, he said. The U.S. Mission to the United Nations refused comment on the report. But a human rights report by the State Department, planned for release Wednesday, was expected to address some of those claims, including allegations of abuses by Iraqi authorities in their prisons.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5669834,00.html

[Demeter]

1. Add It To The Crime List

Somebody better bell this cat pretty soon, though. Or stop bothering to count the crimes.

[rodeodance]

2. so so many are locked up--causing for problems.

[3waygeek]

3. Gee, ya think? n/t

[Drum]

4. YES!

More of this kind of news, please. This has positive, increasing leverage if the UN and international community speak up a bit more. Bush&Co must be leashed, and, if possible, muzzled.

[Kagemusha]

5. Excuse me? Leverage?

If you haven't noticed Annan is a lame duck and negotiations are underway to decide his replacement. There is no leverage here. None. At all.

Sorry to burst your bubble and all. I'd love to consider this a positive thing, but I can't see it as anything but a non-factor.

[stillcool]

6. actually....any news about any body...

speaking about all these atrocities....is good. All we have is "non-factors"...otherwise we wouldn't be where we are.

[Drum]

7. OK...

but cannot timing---against BushCo and the GOP kool-aid drinkers---give a fed-up UN a little more weight? After all, those scared to do so may nowadays feel more willing to join the chorus rather than start the song. Metaphorically, I mean. If I ever had political naivete, it's so gone...since about 1998, after having recovering from Nixon and Reagan. No unrealistic hope here, but hope nonetheless...based on a US history longer than my lifetime.

[LynnTheDem]

8. "MAY be"??? Was Hitler MAYBE violating the law, too?

Annan, grow a set already.

[ShockediSay]

9. much earlier in the game he said invasion of Iraq was illegal

i.e., against international law.

and he was right.

[EFerrari]

10. Kidnapping may be illegal. Hostage taking may be illegal.

Torture may be illegal. Murder may be illegal.

Annan may be a coward.

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. The World has been too complacent with this rampaging nation of the USA

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.
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I am happy that our PM refused to get us involved in this Iraq massacre, but it was not enough.

We could have done much more.

Us Canuks have sacrificed $$ and lives in previous wars such as WW1 and WW2

We could have furthered our objections to USA's invasion by cutting off trade completely with the US - yeah COMPLETELY -

Cut off the gas and oil flowing south - cut off the interconnecting electrical grid

Close the border -

yeah - we'd lose a whole bunch of $$

but so what? - we are supporting a terrorist nation!- that being the US of A!!

We can survive without trade from the USA - it might not be too "comfy" for a bit - but there ain't nothing us Canuks need that can't be found elsewhere in the world - - or our own backyard.

If only we could divorce ourselves from what alot of Canuks feel is a "need" - that is, trade with our war-mongering southern neighbors -

(sigh)