General reports on human rights

  • US State Department "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" (Iraq) (08 March 2006)

    Report by the US State Department and part of a set of reports on human rights in countries receiving US aid.

    While the report contains details of pre-trial detention, prisoner abuse, and torture, there is no mention of abuse by US (or other foreign) troops in the report.

    "A climate of extreme violence in which people were killed for political and other reasons continued. Reports increased of killings by the government or its agents that may have been politically motivated. Additionally, common criminals, insurgents, and terrorists undermined public confidence in the security apparatus by sometimes masking their identity in police and army uniforms"

    "Members of sectarian militias dominated police units to varying degrees and in different parts of the country ... During the year there were a number of deaths either at police hands or at the hands of militia members and criminals wearing police uniforms."

    "Insurgents and terrorists killed thousands of citizens ... Using intimidation and violence, they kidnapped and killed government officials and workers, common citizens, party activists participating in the electoral process, civil society activists, members of security forces, and members of the armed forces, as well as foreigners. "

    "Criminal and politically motivated disappearances and kidnappings, including those related to the ongoing insurgency, remained a severe problem ... During the year hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals disappeared without a trace, sometimes at the hands of the police. "

    "On November 13, an overcrowded MOI detention center in Baghdad was discovered. This facility, the Jadiriyah Bunker, held 169 detainees, mostly Sunnis, many of whom showed signs of torture and abuse."

    "Police abuses included threats, intimidation, beatings, and suspension by the arms or legs, as well as the reported use of electric drills and cords, and the application of electric shocks. Reportedly, police threatened or, in fact, sexually abused detainees. "

    Iraqi officials were critical of the report.

  • Amnesty International Report 'In cold blood: abuses by armed groups' (25 July 2005)

    'Armed groups opposed to the US-led multinational force and Iraq's government are showing utter disdain for the lives of Iraqi civilians and others, continuing a pattern of war crimes and crimes against humanity'

    See also the Press Release.

  • Amnesty Report on Iraqi Special Tribunals (13 May 2005)

    Report title: "Iraqi Special Tribunal-Fair trials not guaranteed" (thorough and fairly exhaustive critique of the Iraqi Special Tribunals)

  • Human Rights NGO capacity-building in Iraq (Feb 2005)

    Report of a discussion of the capacity-building needs of Iraqi NGOs, held in Amman in December 2004, and conducted by the International Human Rights Network at the request of the UK Government

  • The present situation of human rights in Iraq (09 June 2004)

    75-page report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the UN Economic and Social Council.

  • Iraq - Country report on human rights practices (25 Feb 2004)

    US government report on the human rights situation in Iraq. Mostly concerned with pre-war human rights abuses

  • UNAMI Human Rights reports

    UNAMI compiles a summary of human rights developments on a quarterly basis (bimonthly prior to 2007)