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To the Iraqi Interim Government and the successor Iraqi Transitional
Government
On Torture and Ill-treatment:
Publicly condemn the practice of torture and other ill-treatment
and state unequivocally that it will not tolerate such abuses.
Investigate promptly all allegations of torture and
ill-treatment, and ensure that guards, interrogators, and other detention
facility officials who are responsible for the abuse of prisoners are subjected
to disciplinary measures or criminal prosecution as appropriate. To that end,
authorize the establishment of a transparent and independent investigation into
allegations of routine and widespread torture by the Ministry of Interior’s
Major Crimes Directorate and the Criminal Intelligence Directorate in
particular.
Conduct a medical examination of detainees alleging abuse when
they are transferred to the jurisdiction of the courts.
Ensure that prisoners have access to medical care on a regular
basis.
Comply with international standards relating to the treatment of children in detention,
in particular by holding them in facilities separate from adult detainees and
establishing interim measures to hold possible children separately from adults
until authorities establish age in each case.
Compensate victims of torture, ill-treatment, and arbitrary
detention adequately and speedily.
On Unlawful Arrest and Detention:
Immediately release or charge with cognizable criminal offenses
all those currently held without charge.
Ensure that persons taken into custody are brought before an
investigative judge within twenty-four hours of arrest, in conformity with Iraq’s CCP.
Ensure that family members and legal counsel have prompt access
to detainees.
On Administration of Justice:
Limit the use of confessions as a basis for pre-trial detention
or conviction to confessions freely made in the presence of counsel and
ratified within twenty-four hours before a judge and the defendant’s counsel.
Suspend in anticipation of later abrogation those provisions of the CCP
that permit the use of confessions and other evidence obtained through torture
or other coercive methods.
Take steps to ensure that arrests by the Ministry of Interior’s
law enforcement agencies comply with domestic legislation that requires the
issuance of arrest warrants from a judicial authority.
Take immediate steps to end widespread extortion of detainees by
police officials. Thoroughly investigate all allegations of abuse by such
personnel, and take disciplinary action and bring prosecutions as appropriate
against all those found responsible.
On Providing Greater Access and Transparency:
Ensure that all detention facilities run by Ministry of Interior
agencies fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, as is required
by legislation currently in force. Such facilities should include those
located within the Ministry of Interior’s compound. All detainees should be held
in recognizable places of detention that are accessible to government
inspection, independent monitors, relatives, and defense counsel.
Grant regular and unimpeded access to these facilities to the
Ministry of Human Rights, which should be encouraged to regularly assess
treatment of detainees and conditions of detention. The findings of such
visits should be made public.
Ensure and sustain conditions necessary for the ICRC to conduct
visits to pre-trial and post-conviction detention facilities.
Grant access to detention facilities under the authority of the
Ministry of Interior to independent and qualified domestic and international
monitoring organizations. Authorities should allow such visits to be unimpeded
and occurring at frequent intervals.
On Meeting International Standards:
Ensure that conditions in detention centers conform to
international standards, including the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the
Treatment of Prisoners and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All
Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. Detainees are entitled to
sufficient food and water, prompt access to medical treatment, adequate washing
facilities, and clean and adequate bedding. They must not be subject to cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture). Consideration
should also be given to becoming a party to the Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture, which allows independent international experts to
conduct regular visits to places of detention within the territory of state
parties, to assess the conditions of detention and to make recommendations for
improvements.
Implement the general recommendations made by the Committee against
Torture in May 2002 and by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture in 2003, to
establish a fully independent complaints mechanism for persons who are held in
state custody.
To the government of the United States and other Multinational Force
governments
Ensure that advisers to the Multinational Force providing
assistance to the Iraqi government on policing and detentions give immediate
and adequate priority to the investigation of allegations of the torture or
ill-treatment of detainees by Iraqi police forces.
Urge and assist the creation of appropriate mechanisms for
investigating allegations of abuse of detainees in facilities run by the
Ministry of Interior’s specialized agencies, in particular the Major Crimes
Directorate and the Criminal Intelligence Directorate.
Recommend an increase in the number of Multinational Force
advisers deployed in detention facilities run by the Ministry of Interior.
Clarify the role of such advisers with regard to the monitoring of detainee treatment
in these facilities. Establish a mechanism allowing for the timely and
effective reporting of instances where physical or other abuse of detainees
occurs in facilities where Multinational Force advisers are present.
Assist the Iraqi authorities in establishing a mechanism for the
prompt investigation of allegations of torture or ill-treatment at the hands of
Ministry of Interior law enforcement officials.
Encourage and assist the Iraqi government in establishing an
independent complaints mechanism, which could include the appointment of an
ombudsman for penal and detention matters, to receive and investigate
complaints by detainees of physical or other abuse by detaining officials.
Assist the Iraqi government to comply with international
standards relating to the treatment of children in detention, in particular by
holding them in facilities separate from adult detainees and establishing
interim measures to hold possible children separately from adults until age is
established in each case.
Ensure that assistance to the Iraqi government is not used to
contribute to human rights violations.
In the context of assistance provided to the Iraqi government,
send a clear and consistent message that respect for human rights is integral
and essential to the success of any security policy, including anti-terrorism
operations.
To the international donor community
Closely monitor any police, security and anti-terrorism
assistance to the Iraqi government to ensure that human rights standards are
strictly observed by police and intelligence forces.
Provide human rights training as an integral component of all
capacity building and training programs involving the police and intelligence
agencies. Such training should include a component designed to stop the use of
torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment as an interrogation
technique or punishment.
Ensure that aid given includes assistance for the development and
support of local human rights groups with a monitoring capacity and the
development of an independent human rights commission.
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