British and US aid intended for Iraq's hard-pressed police service is being diverted to paramilitary commando units accused of widespread human rights abuses, including torture and extra-judicial killings.
Iraqi Police Service officers said ammunition, weapons and vehicles earmarked for the IPS are being taken by shock troops at the forefront of Iraq's new dirty counter-insurgency war.
The allegations follow a wide-ranging investigation by the London-based Observer newspaper into serious human rights abuses being conducted by anti-insurgency forces in Iraq. The Observer has seen photographic evidence of post-mortem and hospital examinations of alleged terror suspects from Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle that demonstrate serious abuse of suspects including burnings, strangulation, the breaking of limbs and -- in one case -- the apparent use of an electric drill to perform a knee-capping.
The investigation revealed:
-- A "ghost" network of secret detention centers across the country, inaccessible to human rights organizations, where torture is taking place.
-- Compelling evidence of widespread use of violent interrogation methods including hanging by the arms, burnings, beatings, the use of electric shocks and sexual abuse.
-- Claims that serious abuse has taken place within the walls of the Iraqi government's own Ministry of the Interior.
-- Apparent cooperation between unofficial and official detention facilities, and evidence of extra-judicial executions by the police.
The issue of increasing human rights abuses has been raised with the new Iraqi government by the UK Foreign Office, the US State Department, and the UN. British Embassy officials in Baghdad have been briefed on the crisis by concerned senior Iraqi officials on several occasions.
The British Ministry of Defense (MOD) confirmed that it has spent ?27 million in gift aid on the Iraqi security services, which provided guns, ammunition, and public order equipment such as protective vests and armored Land Rovers. An MoD source said the majority of this material went to the police. A further ?20 million went to the police from the government's Global Conflict Prevention Pool, jointly funded by the MOD, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development.
Despite that, the British government has, until now, remained silent in public on the issue of the country's widening human rights crisis.
The British opposition Liberal Democrat defense spokesman Michael Moore called on ministers to make an immediate statement in the House of Commons: "These are serious reports that go to the heart of the question of the coalition's oversight of the security situation in Iraq. The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense must urgently inform Parliament about the scope of their investigation into these allegations," he said.
The Foreign Office said last night that it was taking the reports of abuse "very seriously." It issued detailed responses to the claims: "We are aware and deeply concerned by reports of detainee abuse by Iraqi police officers and of men in police uniforms committing serious crimes, whether these men are genuine policemen or not. Any abuse of detainees is unacceptable."
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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