Acts of violence have killed nearly 2Â 500 people and forced more than 85Â 000 to flee their homes in Iraq, the United Nations assistance mission in Iraq said on Tuesday in a March-April report on the human rights situation.
The fatality count was comprised of death certificates issued by the Baghdad morgue, the report said.
”The medico-legal institute in Baghdad issued 1Â 294 death certificates in March and 1Â 155 in April,” the majority of which had been deaths caused by gunshot wounds, it said.
”As a result of the pervasive violence, Iraqis continue to leave their areas of residence, either voluntarily or as a result of violence or threats by insurgents, militias and other armed groups,” it said.
Citing the International Organisation of Migration, the report stated that 14Â 302 families had been displaced since the February 22 destruction of a Shi’ite shrine in Samarra that precipitated a rash of sectarian killing.
The report further noted that the destinations of the displaced families break along sectarian lines, with Sunnis from the south heading to Anbar, Salaheddin and Diyala provinces, and Shi’ites heading from Baghdad to the southern provinces.
The report expressed dismay over the legal and judicial system in the country, noting that the security situation has diminished the power of the judiciary.
”Judicial authorities would not appear always able to exercise their power independently or effectively and enforce Iraqi laws in their relation with police forces and militias,” said the report.
The report also noted that the many cases of murder, torture and abuse were investigated inadequately or not at all, adding that ”such a situation may encourage further acts of violence and crime”.
”The number of detainees held in the country continues to remain high,” said the report, noting that multinational forces hold 15Â 387 detainees while the justice ministry has 7Â 727.
The interior ministry has another 5Â 077, with defence holding 333, the report said. The labour and social affairs ministry has 176 minors in detention, it added.
”The conditions of detention in Iraqi facilities are generally not consistent with international human rights standards. Prisons and detention centres are overcrowded [with pre-trial detainees and convicts being mixed] and often lack food, hygiene and medical treatment,” it added.
Under Iraqi law, only the justice ministry is authorised to hold detainees. — AFP
