Torture rampant in Iraqi prisons, streets, UN says

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http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/September/focusoniraq_September135.xml§ion=focusoniraq

UNITED NATIONS - Torture is rampant in Iraqi detention centers and in the widespread sectarian killings seen across the country, the United Nations reported on Wednesday, based on the signs of abuse on victims’ bodies.

“Detainees’ bodies show signs of beating using electrical cables, wounds in different parts of their bodies including in the head and genitals, broken bones of legs and hands, electric and cigarette burns,” the human rights office of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq said in a new report.

Bodies found in the Baghdad morgue “often bear signs of severe torture including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances, missing skin, broken bones — back, hands and legs, missing eyes, missing teeth and wounds caused by power drills or nails,” the report said.

The signs of widespread torture are confirmed by reports from surviving eyewitnesses, the rights office said. One individual, for example, said members of a Sunni extremist group beat him with electrical cables and iron bars to make him disclose the Muslim sect he belonged to.