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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraq's human rights minister defends country's record on civil liberties |
| 2005-03-11 |
| Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin lashed out at critics of Iraq's record on civil liberties, reminding detractors that the country was far better off now than under Saddam Hussein. Named minister in April 2004, after his predecessor resigned during the first U.S. offensive on Fallujah, Amin defended government conduct since July when the U.S. occupation was officially dissolved. It is a tall burden. Fighting insurgency, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi declared emergency law on the eve of the second U.S. assault on the rebel bastion of Fallujah in November. The state of emergency, which has been in effect ever since, authorizes special 24-hour courts for issuing warrants and gives the prime minister the authority to restrict movement in Iraq. The interim government came under fire in January when the international rights watchdog Human Rights Watch released a report, criticizing the country's police for abusing detainees. The U.S. State Department revived those concerns in its annual human rights report released this month. Stirring further controversy, the Iraqi government has started airing nightly confessions of detainees on state television. The practice has raised questions about protecting detainees' rights. But the minister bristles: "We are in an extraordinary security situation." He says the footage also has "an educational side" in that it dissuades some from joining the resistance. Amin disparaged the arrested men. "They are men who kill for $10 or $100. They use the name of Islam and they are drug addicts and alcoholics." He argues that the nightly program has proven that Iraqi forces are getting the job done. He added: "There is more cooperation between society and the security forces. It also shows the security forces are doing something." Grilled about the refusal to let Saddam Hussein and his top 11 cronies, under U.S. guard in Baghdad, have family visits, he turns combative. "The family of the disappeared, can they visit with their relatives?" Amin asked. "It is the Iraqi government's decision not to authorize these visits for security reasons." Amin predicts Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid will be the next old-regime member hauled before Iraq's special tribunal. He will probably be brought to court for the 1988 gassing of the Kurdish town of Halabja that killed 5,000 people and crimes in the Shiite south, Amin said. In late February, Saddam's half-brother Barzan, ex-Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and two other Baath officials were formally charged for the murder of villagers after an assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein in 1982. Despite the contentious points, Amin said Iraqis enjoyed more freedom today than they ever did under Saddam Hussein. "More than 110 political groups participated in the election [last month] ... more than 200 newspapers, 20 local television channels opened. There is freedom of expression. |
| Posted by:Fred |