- BAGHDAD -- Acts of violence have killed nearly 2 500 people and forced
more than 85 000 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.
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- The fatality count was comprised of death
certificates issued by the Baghdad morgue, the report said.
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- "The medico-legal institute in Baghdad
issued 1 294 death certificates in March and 1 155 in April," the
majority of which had been deaths caused by gunshot wounds, it said.
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- "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.
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- Citing the International Organisation
of Migration, the report stated that 14 302 families had been displaced
since the February 22 destruction of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra that precipitated
a rash of sectarian killing.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- 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".
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- "The number of detainees held in
the country continues to remain high," said the report, noting that
multinational forces hold 15 387 detainees while the justice ministry has
7 727.
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- The interior ministry has another 5 077,
with defence holding 333, the report said. The labour and social affairs
ministry has 176 minors in detention, it added.
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- "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.
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- Under Iraqi law, only the justice ministry
is authorised to hold detainees.
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- http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_ne
ws/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=272567
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- http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/89186
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