|
|
|
|
|
“Torture, abuses worse than under Saddam” Al
Jazeera.com | March 2 2006 Pace, who left his post last month, said that there is an increase in the level of extra-judicial executions and torture in Iraq. "Under Saddam, if you agreed to forgo your basic right to freedom of expression and thought, you were physically more or less OK," Pace said in an interview with The Associated Press. "But now, no. Here, you have a primitive, chaotic situation where anybody can do anything they want to anyone." The scale of atrocity now "extends over a much wider section of the population than it did under Saddam." Pace’s comments came as sectarian violence in Iraq threatened to plunge the country into civil war. Last week’s bombing of one of the country’s holiest Shia shrines triggered a series of reprisal attacks against Sunnis. The situation has deteriorated by the “death squads” operated by the Shia-dominated Interior Minister, Pace said. He also said that the government-backed “death squads” and rebels threaten morgue workers not to properly investigate deaths of the victims of torture and killings. "They are told it is not necessary, and not in their interests," in order to “minimize any chances" that their crimes could be probed or prosecuted. Pace noted that around three-quarters of the bodies brought to the morgue each month showed evidence of gunshot wounds to the head or injuries caused by drill-bits or burning cigarettes. "Nearly all were executed and tortured," he added. Iraq is witnessing one of its worst periods of violence, with more than 18 people being killed in separate attacks across the country on Thursday. In the deadliest attack, unidentified gunmen shot dead more than nine members of the Iraqi security forces at a checkpoint in the northern city of Tikrit. ---------------------------------------------------
Get Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson's books, ALL Alex's documentary films, films by other authors, audio interviews and special reports. Sign up at Prison Planet.tv - CLICK HERE. |
