Iraq's death squads: On the brink of civil war (Interior Ministry blamed)

[RedEarth]

Hundreds of Iraqis are being tortured to death or summarily executed every month in Baghdad alone by death squads working from the Ministry of the Interior, the United Nations' outgoing human rights chief in Iraq has revealed.

John Pace, who left Baghdad two weeks ago, told The Independent on Sunday that up to three-quarters of the corpses stacked in the city's mortuary show evidence of gunshot wounds to the head or injuries caused by drill-bits or burning cigarettes. Much of the killing, he said, was carried out by Shia Muslim groups under the control of the Ministry of the Interior.

Much of the statistical information provided to Mr Pace and his team comes from the Baghdad Medico-Legal Institute, which is located next to the city's mortuary. He said figures show that last July the morgue alone received 1,100 bodies, about 900 of which bore evidence of torture or summary execution. The pattern prevailed throughout the year until December, when the number dropped to 780 bodies, about 400 of which had gunshot or torture wounds.

"It's being done by anyone who wishes to wipe out anybody else for various reasons," said Mr Pace, who worked for the UN for more than 40 years in countries ranging from Liberia to Chile. "But the bulk are attributed to the agents of the Ministry of the Interior."

Coupled with the suicide bombings and attacks on Shia holy places carried out by Sunnis, some of whom are followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qa'ida's leader in Iraq, the activities of the death squads are pushing Iraq ever closer to a sectarian civil war.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article347806.ece

[Geo55]

1. come on ,Donny explained all this,

"It's untidy, and freedom's untidy," he said, jabbing his hand in the air. "Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things."

Saturday April 12, 2003
Donald Rumsfeld

[leftchick]

2. Ministry of the Interior aka: US Puppets

this is so fucking awful. :argh:

[IndianaGreen]

16. John Negroponte authorized the death squads

There are American fingerprints all over this, unfortunately they did not tell the grunts that stumbled upon some of the torture chambers ran by the death squads.

[NashVegas]

3. I Think the Pentagon Is Hoping They'll All Wear Each Other Out

A Josh Marshall column from 2003:

http://www.hillnews.com/marshall/031903.aspx

Violence, death and destruction on such a massive scale have a profound conditioning effect on the psyches of individuals. And the same applies to whole nations. Japan and Germany weren’t just ‘defeated’ or ‘occupied,’ they were crushed — not just their armies, but their civilian populations too. This led to a sort of national humiliation and a transformative willingness to embrace defeat and change.

True defeat changes people and nations too. The fact that our subsequent occupation turned out to be so benign was extremely important. But part of that importance was the contrast between how much these populations had suffered during the war and how much better things got for them after we took over.

[alfredo]

4. So fucking sad.

I bet the US will retreat to the mega bases outside the urban centers and let them fight it out.

[PaulaFarrell]

5. kick n/t

[OKNancy]

6. kick

[Shelor]

7. Death squad victims piled by the hundred in Baghdad

Hundreds of Iraqis are being tortured to death or summarily executed every month in Baghdad alone by death squads working from the Ministry of the Interior, says the United Nations' outgoing human rights chief in Iraq.

John Pace, who left Baghdad two weeks ago, said up to three-quarters of the corpses stacked in the city's mortuary show evidence of gunshot wounds to the head or injuries caused by drill-bits or burning cigarettes.

.......

He said that in last July alone the morgue received 1100 bodies, about 900 of which bore evidence of torture or summary execution.

The pattern prevailed throughout the year until December, when the number dropped to 780 bodies, about 400 of which had gunshot or torture wounds.

"It's being done by anyone who wishes to wipe out anybody else for various reasons," said Pace, who worked for the United Nations for more than 40 years in countries such as Liberia and Chile. "But the bulk are attributed to the agents of the Ministry of the Interior."


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370214

[Clara T]

8. Negroponte Factor

Who's training the "Death Squads"?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. He said that in last July alone the morgue received 1100 bodies

Have we equalled Saddam yet, or are we just getting started..... this will be the gw legacy in Iraq.

[HereSince1628]

10. OMG, "the bulk are attributed to...the Ministry of the Interior."

This will require the US/UK Military to insert itself into what should be civilian government. Seems we have really spread democracy, Bush style.

[MrPrax]

11. Ministry of the Interior!!

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I am sure that Iraqis being sensible people figured that the invasion, while not producing the most democratic country in the world, would AT LEAST get rid of the gov't terror campaigns, the disappearing, the torture, etc...

Oh well--yet another stunning failure for the US to provide even the minimum standards...

[Judi Lynn]

12. Reading the article really made my heart sink. It looks so bad.

Of course, it probably pleases the _Bush administration just fine, as they'll use ALL unrest as a reason to dig in even more in Iraq.

I appreciate having read your article, Shelor. Welcome to D.U. :hi: :hi: :hi:

[Cocoa]

13. How did Laura Ingraham miss this?

she was just over there a couple of weeks ago to get "the real story," and she didn't say a word about this.

[Mr_Spock]

15. Laura the whora

She's like spit on a piece of crap.

[Mr_Spock]

14. Negroponte must be there

America, land of the free, home of the assasins...

[TacticalPeek]

17. K & R n/t

:kick: