UN raises concerns over killings, torture by Iraqi govt

Today it will be reported that a bi-monthly human rights report by the UN raised concerns about violence by government forces. They will allege that the Interior Ministry, police stations, and pro-government militias have:

• conducted mass arrests and held people in detention for long periods without charge
• tortured people in police stations and premises owned by the Interior Ministry
• had sectarian death squads within the police forces commit extrajudicial executions

On the 19 September, Kofi Anan will be reported as naming Baghdad, Al Basra, Al Musel, Kirkuk and the Kurdish regions in the north of Iraq as areas in which torture at police stations and institutions affiliated with the Interior Ministry is widely reported.