 | Make sure you bow when you do it, champ ... |
The UN has called on Barack Obama to order a full investigation of US forces' involvement in human rights abuses in Iraq after a massive leak of military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.
The Guardian has analysed the 400,000 documents, the biggest leak in US military history,
| Yup, and they managed to read all 400K documents rather quickly, eh ... |
and found 15,000 previously unreported civilian deaths.
| None by our boys, which isn't a surprise. |
The logs show how US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and generally unpunished.
| That's because it's Iraq, in the Middle East, where this sort of thing has been going on for thousands of years. Though the human rights crowd is curiously forgetful of Saddam's chipping machine ... |
Nowak said that if the files released through WikiLeaks pointed to clear violations of the UN Convention Against Torture the Obama administration had an obligation to investigate them.
| No, the Iraqi government does, since it had its sovereignty returned to it in 2005. Direct your complaint to the Iraqi delegation at the UN. |
The logs paint a disturbing picture of the relationship between US and Iraqi forces. Nowak said that UN human rights agreements obliged states to criminalise every form of torture, whether directly or indirectly, and to investigate any allegations of abuse.
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme, Nowak, who has spent years investigating allegations of US participation in extraordinary rendition and the abuse of detainees held by coalition forces, said the Obama administration had a legal and moral obligation to fully investigate credible claims of US forces' complicity in torture. A failure to investigate, Nowak suggested, would be a failure of the Obama government to recognise its obligations under international law. He said the principle of "non-refoulement" prohibited states from transferring detainees to other countries that could pose a risk to their personal safety.
| Nowak can suggest all he likes. It's very clear that he, others at the UN, the newspapers, and the Wikileaks crowd are involved in a coordinated effort to tear at the US again, and to force Bambi into an embarrassing position, all to weaken US interests further. |
The documents, which cover the period in Iraq from 2004 onwards, have prompted claims that this principle has not been observed. The files contain evidence that US forces were ordered to turn a blind eye to abuses committed by the Iraqi authorities. Nowak said the US had an obligation "whenever they expel, extradite or hand over any detainees to the authorities of another state to assess whether or not these individuals are under specific risk of torture. If this assessment is not done, or authorities hand over detainees knowing there is a serious risk of them being subjected to torture, they violate article 3 of the UN convention that precludes torture."
Nowak said it would be up to the Obama administration to launch an "independent and objective" investigation with a view not only to "bring the perpetrators to justice but also to provide the victims with adequate remedy and reparation".
| And if the 'investigation' doesn't find what Nowak expects them to find, he'll demand another investigation that's even more independent and objective ... |
He noted that neither the US nor Iraq had ratified the international criminal convention that would see officials from either country brought before the international courts for war crimes.
| And we're not likely to now ... |
It would be up to the US courts to determine whether US officials or soldiers had breached human rights laws. "If it is established that a particular individual is responsible for torture directly or by complicity, this person should be brought to justice in the domestic courts," Nowak said.
A Pentagon spokesman told the New York Times this week that under its procedure, when reports of Iraqi abuse were received the US military "notifies the responsible government of Iraq agency or ministry for investigation and follow-up".
| Which is about all we can do since it is, after all, their country, a point that the left and the UN reminds us of repeatedly. |
In response to the revelations, the Iraqi government has vowed to probe the allegations made against its soldiers and police. "The government will show no leniency when it comes to the rights of its citizens," said a statement issued by prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.
| Unless the victims were Sunnis ... |
|