Reply #25: Absurd

[ProSense]

What is the administration to do? The U.S. is withdrawing from Iraq. They are bound to transfer any prisoners to Iraq. They would be accused of unlawful detention otherwise. What are they supposed to do: Stay in Iraq and hold these prisoners indefinitely?

From Amnesty's report:

In February 2009 US President Barak Obama stated that US combat forces would leave Iraq by 31 August 2010, though other non-combat forces are due to remain after that date in order to train the Iraqi security forces and carry out joint actions where required. However, all US troops are due to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011.

The violence and turmoil of the past seven years have devastated Iraq and its people. Hundreds of thousands have been killed – at least 151,000 between 2003 and 2006 alone, it has been estimated5 – but the true figure is not known. Basic services have collapsed or are barely functioning, including health and education. Water and electricity supplies are at best intermittent – 70 per cent of Iraqis do not have access to drinkable water and 80 per cent have no access to effective sanitation. In June 2010 thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in Basra and other southern cities over power shortages. Officially, unemployment stands at 50 per cent, but in reality it is much higher. About four million people have fled abroad or are internally displaced. Despite the country’s oil wealth, millions of Iraqis are struggling with deepening poverty and growing malnutrition, with women suffering particularly badly. Corruption is endemic. All this poses huge challenges for whatever government is formed.

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US forces arrested suspects independently and without reference to the Iraqi authorities or Iraqi national law from the time of the invasion in March 2003 until the beginning of January 2009, when the SOFA came into force. Then, from I January 2009, as described above, US forces were required to obtain an arrest warrant from the Iraqi authorities before making any arrest and to transfer any person they arrested to the custody of the Iraqi authorities within 24 hours. Meanwhile, since late 2003, the newly formed Iraqi police and security forces, recruited and trained primarily by US and UK forces, have made arrests and detained people both independently, on their own, and in joint operations with US forces.

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9. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The human rights situation in Iraq remains extremely serious. Amnesty International recognizes that the government faces deadly attacks by armed groups who are intent on causing maximum civilian casualties. It also recognizes that it is the government’s duty to protect its population. However, the government can only do this while respecting its obligations under international human rights law and upholding the rule of law. Even in the context of ongoing violence, there is no justification for keeping thousands of people in prisons and detention facilities without charge or trial, let alone keeping them like this for years. Many of the detainees have suffered torture and other ill-treatment by Iraqi security forces, and remain at risk of such abuses. Because of government complicity, tolerance or inaction in relation to such abuses, a culture of impunity prevails. US forces, by transferring individuals to Iraqi detention facilities where they are clearly at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, may be complicit in these abuses and have breached their international obligations towards the prisoners. To counter the impunity and to help protect human rights in Iraq, Amnesty International makes the following recommendations:

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TO THE US GOVERNMENT

• Ensure that no one at risk of torture and other ill-treatment or other grave human rights violations is transferred to Iraqi custody.
  
  
• Ensure that those sentenced to death will not be transferred to the Iraqi authorities.
  
  
• Ensure that all detainees who have already been transferred to Iraqi custody are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated; that allegations of torture are investigated; and that victims are provided with reparations.
  
  
• Ensure that detainees have regular access to legal counsel and that their places of detention are inspected by the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry and the ICRC.

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As an organization focused on human rights, Amnesty is laying out clearly the implications of any actions, but they have not accused the administration of carrying out or condoning torture. Any such accusations are bullshit.