...human rights in occupied Iraq...
The heinous scandal of Abu Ghraib is not the only violation of human rights and international law in Iraq. According to Baghdad's Red Cross (ICRC) Spokesperson Nada Doumani, Abu Ghraib is but the tip of the iceberg, and of these and other violations Chief Civil Administrator L Paul Bremer was well aware.
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Doumani told the Weekly that the ICRC began visiting Abu Ghraib jail in March 2003, before the fall of the Hussein regime. An ICRC team organised its first post-Saddam visit to Abu Ghraib last October. The team met with the director of the jail. They submitted a report to General Janis Karpinski -- formally admonished and quietly "suspended" in January -- and met the American attorney-general in Iraq.
"During those meetings we mentioned a lot of violations in Abu Ghraib and other jails," recalls Doumani. In February, and after many visits to jails and detention centres, the ICRC submitted a report to Bremer and General Sanchez. That report explained in detail the violations of human rights. Doumani added, "The atrocities shown in the photos published by the media are not the only violations. There are many other undocumented atrocities that the ICRC is aware of.
Nermeen Al-Mufti/Al-Ahram Weekly May.13-19.04
