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Iraq: Appeals Courts Ignoring Torture Claims

Overturning Acquittals in Terrorism Cases

(Beirut) – A close study of appeals court decisions in terrorism-related cases in Iraq shows that judges in close to two dozen cases in an 18-month period appeared to ignore torture allegations or to rely on uncorroborated…
Presidency of the Federal Court of Cassation of Baghdad
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Iraq: Chilling Accounts of Torture, Deaths

Investigate Abuse During Interrogations in Mosul

(Beirut) – Two former detainees and the father of a man who died in detention have provided details of ill-treatment, torture, and death in facilities run by the Iraqi Interior Ministry in the Mosul area, Human Rights Watch said today…
Mahmoud said he was hung in the “bazoona” position at least six times while in detention, for hours. He said that at least four of those times, he lost consciousness before being taken down. Sometimes officers threw water at him before beating his back wi
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Iraq: Judges Disregard Torture Allegations

Failure to Investigate, Punish Security Forces Implicated in Abuse

(Beirut) – Iraq’s judges routinely fail to investigate security forces credibly alleged to have tortured terrorism suspects, Human Rights Watch said today. Judges also frequently ignore allegations of torture and convict…
Risafa Central Criminal Court in Baghdad, where Human Rights Watch sat in on 18 felony trials in June and July, 2018.
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Iraq: Intelligence Agency Admits Holding Hundreds Despite Previous Denials

Ex-Detainee Describes Degrading Conditions

(Beirut) – Iraq’s National Security Service (NSS), an Iraqi intelligence agency reporting to Iraq’s prime minister, has acknowledged for the first time that it is detaining individuals for prolonged periods of time, despite not having a clear mandate to…
A blank NSS arrest warrant provided to Human Rights Watch. © 2018 Private
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Uzbekistan: A Year into New Presidency, Cautious Hope for Change

Government Needs to Secure Steps Taken to Support Rights

(Bishkek) – The Uzbek government during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s first year in office has taken some positive steps to improve the human rights situation, but should now transform them into institutional change and sustainable improvements,…
201710eca_uzbekistan_bekjanovmemoir
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Iraq: Sunni Women Tell of ISIS Detention, Torture

Describe Forced Marriage, Rape

(Baghdad) – Fighters from the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) are arbitrarily detaining, ill-treating, torturing, and forcibly marrying Sunni Arab women and girls in areas under their control in Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today. …
A woman fleeing the fighting between the Islamic State and Iraqi Security Forces in Intisar neighbourhood in eastern Mosul on November 7, 2016.
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US: Ex-Detainees Describe Unreported CIA Torture

Electric Chair Threats, Baton Beatings, Various Water Tortures

(New York) – Two Tunisians formerly held in secret United States Central Intelligence Agency custody have described previously unreported methods of torture that shed new light on the earliest days of the CIA program, Human Rights Watch…
CIA detainee torture abuse 2
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Uzbekistan's Imprisoned Human Rights Defenders

Human Rights Watch calls on the Uzbek government to immediately and unconditionally release all wrongfully imprisoned activists, several of whom suffer from serious illness and at least seven of whom have been ill-treated or subjected to torture in…

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