Parliament expresses concern over human rights violations in Iraqi prisons

Shafaq News/ The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee expressed today great concern over "the violations taking place in Iraqi prisons and detention centers."

Committee member Qusai Al-Shabki told Shafaq News Agency, "We do not know the death circumstances of inmates in Nasiriyah Central Prison (Al-Hout), nor the citizen who died during interrogation in the Basra Anti-crime directorate. These cases are surprising."

"The council of Representatives is currently completely disrupted, and if the sessions are not held in the coming days, it is within the program of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee to host the Minister of Interior", adding, "interrogations must be done under human rights regulations, but unfortunately, we hear every now and then about forced confessions, not in Basra only, but in all Iraqi governorates."

Al-Shabki concluded by saying, "The duties of the Human Rights Committee are legislative oversight, not executive," stressing, "there is a clear failure by the executive authorities."

For its part, the High Commission for Human Rights condemned on Sunday the repeated violations and torture cases, which it described as "inhumane" in detention centers, prisons, and during investigations, pointing to two violations and the death of detainees in Basra Governorate.

The Commission said in a statement, "the recurrence of such violations gives a negative impression on Iraq's reputation locally and internationally, and creates a state of fear for the concerned humanitarian organizations about the increasing violations in detention centers and during initial investigation phases."

The statement pointed out that this, "undermines Iraq's efforts and commitments locally and internationally, concerning the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel or Inhuman Treatment or Punishment of 1984."

The Commission called on the concerned authorities to take serious measures to prevent this from recurring and hold accountable those who are proven to be responsible for such violations.

The Commission demanded forming an investigative committee that includes representatives of the competent security authorities and the ministries of justice and health, the Supreme Judicial Council, and the Iraqi Bar Association, in addition to the High Commission for Human Rights, to verify these violations.

The statement urged all parties to choose efficient and impartial investigators to prevent any violations.

A security source had informed Shafaq News Agency on July 30, that a detainee named Ali Mubarak Fahd Al-Shamri had died at Al-Baradi'yah Police Station, in Basra.