II. Recommendations

To the Iraqi Government

Disallow confessions and other evidence that has been obtained through torture or other unlawful methods.
Limit the use of secret informants as a basis for pretrial detention or conviction by establishing procedures for verifying the credibility and veracity of such evidence in a timely manner.
Allow detainees the opportunity to sufficiently challenge evidence provided by secret informants, while not endangering the safety of witnesses.
Ensure that arrests comply with Iraq's domestic law that requires arrest warrants from a judicial authority (except in cases in flagrante delicto).
Ensure that family members and legal counsel have prompt access to detainees and provide legal counsel with case files on a timely basis.
Notify detainees, family members, and defense counsel in advance of hearing dates and postponements.
Initiate a review of previous convictions to ensure that such convictions were not based on coerced confessions or solely on unfounded statements of secret informants.

Revise the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to ensure that the rights of defendants meet international standards, notably by prohibiting torture and other mistreatment and the use of coerced confession as evidence. Ensure that child detainees are held separately from adults in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Iraqi Child Welfare Law.
Revise the Child Welfare Law to require that parents or guardians and counsel are present during the questioning of children and at their investigative hearings.

Ensure that persons taken into custody are brought before an investigative judge within 24 hours of arrest, in conformity with Iraq's Code of Criminal Procedure.
Immediately release or charge with a cognizable criminal offense all those currently held without charge.

Condemn publicly any use of torture or other mistreatment in pretrial detention, including during interrogation with the aim of eliciting confessions.
Investigate promptly all allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and institute disciplinary measures or criminal prosecution, as appropriate, against guards, interrogators, and other detention facility officials who are responsible for the abuse of prisoners.
Abrogate the provision of Iraq's Code of Criminal Procedure (article 136(b)) that requires the permission of superiors to bring criminal charges against officials, including those implicated in the torture and ill-treatment of detainees.

Conduct prompt medical examinations of detainees who allege abuse in detention or during interrogation.
Compensate victims of torture, ill-treatment, and arbitrary detention adequately and in a timely manner.

Implement the general recommendations of the UN Committee Against Torture and the UN special rapporteur on torture to establish a fully independent complaints mechanism for persons who are held in state custody.
Fulfill obligations as a state party to the Convention against Torture to:

enshrine the prohibition against torture in training of security forces and other personnel engaged in detention; and
specify interrogation practices with the goal of preventing torture and other mistreatment of detainees.

Transfer the cases of all Iraqi detainees to the legal jurisdiction of the Iraqi courts. Do not physically transfer detainees to Iraqi government custody where there is a fear of torture or other mistreatment. Act to improve treatment in Ministry of Justice detention facilities through frequent and unannounced inspections in conjunction with the Ministry of Human Rights.

Coordinate with Iraqi judicial authorities to identify detainees in MNF custody who meet requirements to benefit from the General Amnesty Law.

Ensure that, until such time as all Iraqi detainees are transferred to Iraqi custody, family members and legal counsel have prompt access to detainees.

Ensure that advisers to the MNF providing assistance to the Iraqi government on administration of justice, policing, and detentions give priority to the investigation of allegations of the torture or ill-treatment of detainees by Iraqi police and military forces.
Assist the creation of Iraqi mechanisms for investigating allegations of abuse of detainees.
Assist the Iraqi government to establish an independent complaints mechanism, which could include an ombudsman for judicial, penal, and detention matters, to receive and investigate complaints by detainees of abuse by detaining officials. Such a mechanism should be accessible to children.
Assist the Iraqi government to comply with international standards relating to the treatment of children in detention by holding them in facilities separate from adult detainees.

Monitor criminal justice, police, security, and counterterrorism assistance to ensure Iraqi compliance with international human rights standards in the criminal justice system and police and intelligence forces.
Make human rights training an integral component of all capacity-building and training programs involving the criminal justice system, police, and intelligence agencies.
Support the Iraqi Bar Association and other legal organizations that provide free legal representation for defendants in the criminal justice system.
Support the development of an independent National Human Rights Commission and local independent human rights groups with a monitoring capacity.