UN calls for 'immediate action' over Iraq mass arrests

The United Nations mission in Iraq (Unami) has expressed concern over mass arrests by US-led coalition troops "without adequate judicial oversight". In a report, the mission called for immediate action, saying the number of such inmates was rising.



It said data by the Iraqi ministry of human rights last month showed that 1,559 out of 23,394 detainees were held by coalition troops.

The US military says Iraqi inmates are having their cases promptly reviewed.

It says all the necessary steps are being taken either through referral to Iraqi courts or through a special US-Iraqi prisoner board set up in 2004 to speed up the review of individual cases.

The latest report by the UN mission covered the period from 1 September to 31 October 2005.

It said that "the overall number of detainees continued to increase due to mass arrests carried out during security and military operations" in Iraq.

The report said "the vast majority" of those held were individuals picked up by the US-led forces for "imperative reasons of security". It said that the US-Iraqi board was reviewing up to 250 cases a week, "resulting in some releases".

But it said the board's standards violated both Iraqi and international laws governing the treatment of civilians.

"There is an urgent need to provide remedy to lengthy internment for reasons of security without adequate judicial oversight," the report said.

The UN has repeatedly expressed concerns about the large number of detainees being held in Iraq without apparent due process.

It has also alleged that thousands are being kept in custody for long periods without charges.

source : BBC

now is this more meddling from the UN or is this showing disrespect for the only lawfull authortity for actually being in the country in the first place , as shown by the desperation the coalition went through to get the UN to renew its authority before the christmas deadline to pull out , well that depends on your perspective .

To some of us International law is a wonderfull guidline that helps to keep all countries in check and allows us to see the good from the bad and gives the world authrority to deal with nasty regimes . To others International law is only to give us justification to attack countries such as Iraq or Iran and does not apply to the big countries who can do as they please