Draft UN resolution fails to address human rights and humanitarian crisis
Amnesty International today expressed deep concern that a draft resolution before the Security Council to expand the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) fails to acknowledge and address meaningfully the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in the country that have rightly been highlighted by the most senior UN officials. In June, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the growing number of detainees resulting from intensified security operations and the UN's chief humanitarian official has stressed that Iraq is now witness to the largest population displacement in recent history in the Middle East. "The draft resolution is completely silent on the gross human rights abuses taking place on a daily basis in Iraq, and on the deepening humanitarian crisis in the country," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International. "The Security Council must strengthen the current text to express its deep concern about continuing grave human rights abuses and their dire humanitarian consequences," said Irene Khan. "The Security Council must take account of the sectarian and other killings of civilians by both armed groups and government forces, the continuing detention of thousands of Iraqis without charge or trial by the US-led Multinational Force and Iraqi security forces, the widespread reports of torture, the sharp rise in the use of the death penalty and other gross abuses." "The least the Security Council can do is to call on all parties concerned to halt and prevent further human rights abuses, to protect civilians including internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups, and to put an end to impunity. We call on the Security Council to strengthen UNAMI's mandate and resources to monitor, promote and protect human rights. The vague and inadequate human rights provisions in the current draft must be substantially revised to give UNAMI a clear mandate to monitor, analyze, help protect and publicly report on human rights in Iraq," said Irene Khan. "The Security Council must also address the Iraqi refugee crisis, including the urgent need to provide humanitarian assistance to the more than two million internally displaced persons," said Amnesty International's Secretary General. Background The mandate of UNAMI is due to expire on 9 August 2007 and the Security Council is considering a draft resolution that would expand the mandate of the UN mission for Iraq to help promote national dialogue and reconciliation, support constitutional review and facilitate regional dialogue on security and refugees. The draft is silent about the current human rights and humanitarian situation and the need to protect civilians, and includes a proposed UNAMI mandate to assist in the orderly return of refugees and displaced persons, rather than assisting in their protection. It also includes a vaguely worded mandate, using the same language as that already provided in Security Council resolution 1546 , "to promote the protection of human rights and judicial and legal reform in order to strengthen the rule of law in Iraq." In his last report to the Security Council on Iraq in June 2007 (S/2007/330), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon identified "pressing human rights concerns in Iraq," including increased numbers of detainees and security internees as a result of increased security operations. Some of this increase is believed due to the deployment of additional US troops in the Baghdad area as part of a military "surge" into areas seen as sectarian strongholds. John Holmes, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, now describes Iraq as one of the world's "largest and fastest-growing humanitarian crises," with the largest population displacement in recent history of the Middle East: one out of seven Iraqis have fled their homes. Amnesty International warned of a new humanitarian crisis causing an unprecedented three million Iraqis being forcibly displaced. The sectarian war between Shi'a and Sunni Iraqis has forced more than two million Iraqis to flee the country, mainly to Syria and Jordan, and has swelled the number of internally displaced persons to more than two million.
Public Document
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العفو الدولية: استمرار انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان في العراق
