Human rights in post-invasion Iraq have been a subject of concern and controversy since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Issues have been raised regarding the conduct of insurgents, U.S.-led coalition forces, and the Iraqi government. The United States is investigating several allegations of violations of international and domestic standards of conduct in isolated incidents involving its forces and contractors. Similarly, the United Kingdom is conducting investigations into alleged human rights abuses by its forces. War crime tribunals and criminal prosecutions for numerous crimes committed by insurgents are likely still years away. In late February 2009, the U.S. State Department released a report on the human rights situation in Iraq, reflecting on developments during the previous year (2008).
Human rights abuses by insurgents
Human rights abuses carried out or alleged to have been carried out by Iraq-based insurgents and/or terrorists include:
August 2003 The bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003 resulted in the death of the top U.N. representative in Iraq, 55-year-old Sérgio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian diplomat who also served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.NewsHour Extra: Who Are the Iraq Insurgents? - June 12, 2006 The attack claimed the lives of 22 U.N. staff members and injured more than 100 others. Among the dead was Nadia Younes, a former Executive Director at the World Health Organization (WHO) in charge of External Relations and Governing Bodies. The terrorist attack was strongly condemned by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and denounced by the U.N. Security Council.
June 2004 South Korean translator Kim Sun-il was beheaded by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
July 2004 Tawhid and Jihad killed Bulgarian truck drivers Ivaylo Kepov and Georgi Lazov. Al-Jazeera aired a videotape of the incident but stated that the segment showing the actual killings was too graphic to broadcast.
December 2004 Salvatore Santoro, a 52-year-old Italian photographer, was beheaded in a video. The Islamic Movement of Iraqi Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for the act.
February 2005 Al-Iraqiya TV (Iraq) aired transcripts of confessions by Syrian intelligence officer Anas Ahmad Al-Issa and Iraqi terrorist Shihab Al-Sab'awi. The confessions detailed their involvement in booby-trap operations, explosions, kidnappings, assassinations, and training for beheadings in Syria.
July 2005 Egyptian and Algerian envoys.
Two Algerian diplomats, Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi, were reported to have been killed by al-Qaeda in Iraq. The group issued a statement online claiming responsibility, stating: “The court of al-Qaeda in Iraq has decided to carry out God’s verdict against the two diplomats from the apostate Algerian government ... and ordered to kill them.” The statement was signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the al-Qaeda spokesman. An Egyptian diplomat, Al-Sherif, was reported to have been killed by al-Qaeda in Iraq. The group posted a statement on a web forum claiming responsibility for the killing. Top Sunni cleric Mohamed Sayed Tantawi condemned the act, describing it as "a crime against religion, morality, and humanity, as well as a crime that goes against honor and chivalry."
February 2006 The Al Askari Mosque bombing took place on February 22, 2006, at approximately 6:55 am local time (0355 UTC) at the Al Askari Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam, in the Iraqi city of Samarra, about northwest of Baghdad. Although no injuries were reported from the blast itself, the bombing led to violence in the following days. On February 23, over 100 dead bodies with bullet holes were found, and at least 165 people are believed to have been killed.
June 2006 A video showing the killing of four Russian diplomats kidnapped in Iraq was posted on the Internet. The group called the Mujahideen Shura Council released the hostage video.
July 2006 Anba' Al-Iraq News Agency and the Writers Without Borders Organization condemned the imprisonment of its staff member, Husain E. Khadir, who was responsible for covering documentaries about the threats posed by the Kurdistan Federal Region to its neighboring countries. A delegation from Human Rights Watch (HRW) released reports on torture in Iraq, as well as the repression of human rights and freedom of expression. HRW interviewed several detained writers and journalists to document these violations. Mr. Khadir was first detained in Kirkuk and later moved to Erbil, where HRW visited him in one of the detention centers.
The previous year in Baghdad, Khadir faced even worse conditions when he escaped from a Shi'a militia that had seized his house and thrown his family into the streets, an act seen as a serious threat to his life. Such actions are commonly directed at human rights activists, journalists, and writers who criticize the Iraqi government and the Shi'a coalition party. During the constitution-writing process, several press and media agencies strongly criticized the Iraqi Shi'a Coalition. Khadir led a campaign to amend the constitution, advocating for a document that would serve as a peace-building tool, bringing all parties together for national consensus and social cohesion, rather than merely serving as a state-building instrument, as the ruling party frequently stated.
UNAMI commented that most of these civil society activities were supported by UN agencies, international donors, or the U.S. and British governments. The IRIN/UN news agency revealed that journalists and writers are among the most vulnerable victims of killing, threats, kidnapping, torture, and detention, practices commonly carried out by uncontrolled Iraqi forces, paramilitary organizations, and Shi'a or Sunni militias. This situation, similar to Khadir's case, is spreading across southern, central, and northern Iraq.
The number of journalists and writers killed in Iraq has exceeded 220 this year, according to the Iraqi Organization for Supporting Journalists, as reported to IRIN.
U.S. National Guard Sergeant Frank "Greg" Ford claimed to have witnessed human rights violations in Samarra, Iraq. However, a subsequent Army investigation found Ford's allegations to be unfounded. Additionally, Ford was discovered to have worn unauthorized "U.S. Navy SEAL" insignia on his Army uniform, despite having never been a Navy SEAL, a claim he had made for many years while serving in the Army National Guard.
The Kuwaiti News Agency reported that a high-ranking Iraqi security source in the Interior Ministry confirmed the final death toll of the 13 August bombings in the Al-Zafaraniyah district in southern Baghdad was 57 killed and 145 injured, most of them women and children. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed Sunni extremists for seeking to escalate the conflict.
Human rights abuses by coalition forces
Prison and interrogation abuses by coalition forces
April 2003 On April 29, 2003, an Iraqi man, Ather Karen al-Mowafakia, was shot and killed by a British soldier at a roadside checkpoint. Witnesses alleged that he was shot in the abdomen after the door of his car struck a soldier's leg as he was getting out of the vehicle. They further claimed he was then dragged from the car and beaten by the soldier's comrades, later succumbing to his injuries in the hospital. Despite seven attempts by The Guardian to address the incident, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has refused to explain why the individuals were detained or provide details on where, how, or why they died.
May 2003 In May 2003, Saeed Shabram and his cousin, Menem Akaili, were detained by British troops and thrown into a river near Basra. Akaili survived, but Shabram drowned. According to Akaili, the two were approached by a British patrol, led at gunpoint to a jetty, and forced into the water. The act, referred to as "wetting," was reportedly used to humiliate local youths suspected of looting.
"Wetting was supposed to humiliate those suspected of being petty criminals," said Sapna Malik, the family's lawyer from Leigh Day and Co. "Although the Ministry of Defence (MOD) denies the existence of a policy of wetting to deal with suspected looters at the time, evidence we have seen suggests otherwise. The tactics employed by the MOD appeared to include throwing or placing suspected looters into either of Basra's two main waterways."
Iraqi bystanders rescued Akaili, but Shabram disappeared. His body was later recovered by a diver hired by his father, Radhi Shabram, after a four-hour search while his mother waited on the riverbank. "When Saeed's corpse was finally pulled from the river, Radhi described it as bloated and covered with marks and bruises," Malik added.
Although the MOD paid compensation to Shabram's family, none of the soldiers involved were charged in connection with his death.
Ahmed Jabbar Kareem Ali, a 15-year-old boy, was on his way to work with his brother on May 8, 2003, when he was assaulted by a group of British soldiers. The soldiers beat him and then forced him into a canal at gunpoint to "teach him a lesson" for suspected looting. Weakened from the beating, Ali struggled in the water and drowned. His lifeless body was later pulled from the canal.
In a separate case involving the death of another Iraqi teenager, four British soldiers were acquitted of manslaughter.
August 2003 Hanan Saleh Matrud, an eight-year-old Iraqi girl, was killed on August 21, 2003, by a soldier from the King's Regiment when a Warrior armoured vehicle stopped near an alley leading to her home. Three or four soldiers exited the vehicle, attracting a group of children, including Hanan. Accounts of what happened next differ.
The soldiers claimed they came under attack from a mob throwing stones, prompting a "warning shot" to be fired. However, local witnesses alleged that the crowd consisted only of children, who had been "coaxed into the open by the soldiers' offers of chocolate." Hanan was shot in the lower torso and rushed by the soldiers to a Czech-run hospital, where she died the following day after an unsuccessful operation.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), "in the absence of impartial witness evidence or forensic evidence to suggest a soldier had acted outside the rules of engagement, no crime was established." In May 2004, following an intervention by Amnesty International, Hanan's family submitted a formal claim for proper compensation, which was under assessment by the MOD as of that time.
September 2003
On September 14, Baha Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist, was arrested along with six other men and taken to a British military base. While in detention, Mousa and the other captives were hooded, severely beaten, and assaulted by several soldiers at the base. Two days later, Mousa was found dead.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Mousa had sustained multiple injuries—at least 93—including fractured ribs and a broken nose, which were identified as contributing factors to his death.
Seven members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment were tried on charges related to the ill-treatment of detainees, including war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. On September 19, 2006, Corporal Donald Payne pleaded guilty to a charge of inhumane treatment of persons, making him the first member of the British Armed Forces to plead guilty to a war crime. He was subsequently sentenced to one year in prison and expelled from the army.
The BBC reported that the six other soldiers were cleared of any wrongdoing. The Independent stated that the charges against them had been dropped, with the presiding judge, Justice Ronald McKinnon, noting: "None of those soldiers has been charged with any offence, simply because there is no evidence against them as a result of a more or less obvious closing of ranks."
January 2004