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BAGHDAD: Iraq's
Human Rights Ministry is investigating allegations
of abuse in the making of a popular television
series that shows insurgents confessing to crimes
including rape, kidnapping and execution.
Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin said the probe
focused on evidence of verbal abuse of suspects, but
could be extended to include physical abuse and
torture, accusations that have been levelled at
Iraq's security forces.
"Individuals have raised concerns after seeing
verbal abuse of suspects as well as bruises on their
bodies and that sort of thing," Amin told Reuters in
an interview.
"We are looking at all these TV shows right now and
we are studying them from a human rights point of
view. Things should be done in accordance with human
rights standards and principles and we are going to
make sure that those norms are respected."
Amin said a report would be made to the interior and
justice ministries after the investigation.
The TV series, called "Terrorism in the Grip of
Justice", airs almost nightly on Iraqiya, Iraq's
US-funded national network, and shows men sitting
before an interrogator, whose face is not shown,
confessing to crimes in precise detail.
Some defendants have appeared with cuts and bruises
on their faces and what looked like bloodstains on
their clothes.
They confess to criminal and militant acts including
kidnap, rape, the execution of hostages, planting
bombs and contract murder, sometimes for as little
as $US10 ($NZ14.40). Some have said they were acting
on the orders of Syrian agents.
The programme, which has been running for several
weeks, has attracted a wide following and been
credited with unmasking the insurgency by making it
appear less intimidating, prompting more people to
come forward with information and intelligence.
The success of the show, together with the historic
January 30 election, has led to a more than 20 per
cent fall in insurgent attacks over the past two
months, US officials say.
But concerns have been raised about forced
confessions, and family members have come forward to
swear that relatives are being wrongly accused or
that alleged victims are still alive.
SADDAM'S SHADOW
Amin said while he was determined to ensure Iraq's
security forces acted within the law, the government
was also under intense popular pressure to show
results against the insurgency.
Many viewers of the programme are not content just
to see insurgents confess, they want to see them
executed too, he said.
"There is a dominant culture of negative human
treatment in this society, where people have been
through decades of oppression and torture, rape and
execution," said Amin, a Kurd who was forced to flee
Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime.
"We have inherited the legacy of a ruthless
dictatorship and it's not going to go away
overnight. It takes time and it takes resources in
educating people. . . It's not a bed of roses."
In a report released in January, US-based rights
group Human Rights Watch alleged systematic torture
of detainees by Iraq's US-trained security forces,
denial of access to detainees by families and
lawyers as well as other abuses.
Earlier this year, Iraqi police were accused of
torturing to death three members of a Shi'ite
militia in Baghdad, a case for which government
ministers have since apologised.
Amin has met representatives from the European
Union, the United Nations and the Swiss and German
governments to enlist their help in training Iraqi
police and interrogators in human rights law and
related issues.
"We are knocking at various doors and we are trying
to improve the situation. There is an urgent need to
train people," he said, adding that 25 people would
leave this month for Germany and the EU would take
700 people later this year.
"I hope we can get rapid international support
because we don't want any more negative reports from
international NGOs about the situation," Amin said,
condemning all forms of abuse.
"We are doing our utmost, but it's going to take
time."
Reuters
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