Sleep deprivation, loud music, bright lights, hooding and prolonged restraint in painful positions are being used by coalition forces in Iraq to torture detainees, Amnesty International said yesterday.
Presenting a memorandum detailing allegations of ill treatment, Mahmoud Ben Romdhane, head of the organisation's delegation in Baghdad, warned that the promise of human rights for Iraqis had yet to be fulfilled.
The report was handed to Paul Bremer, the US civil administrator in charge of the country. "It is shameful to still hear of people detained in inhumane conditions without their family knowing where they are and with no access to a lawyer or a judge - often for weeks on end," Mr Ben Romdhane said.
Amnesty said its investigators had spoken to people subsequently released by coalition forces who complained they had been held in tents in extreme heat and not provided with enough drinking water.
"They were forced to use open trenches for toilets and were not given a change of clothes - even after two months' detention," the human rights organisation said.
In some cases coalition soldiers had failed to promptly implement release orders issued by Iraqi magistrates: "This is a flagrant breach of the rule of law."
Amnesty documented several cases of torture. "Khreisan Khalis Aballey, 39 ... was allegedly hooded and handcuffed and made to stand or kneel facing a wall for nearly eight days while he was being interrogated," the report said.
"He suffered from sleep deprivation as a bright light was placed next to his head and distorted music was played. His knees bled so he mostly stood, and by the end he said his leg was swollen to the size of a football."
The report accused US soldiers of conducting searches after having "smashed their way into cars and cupboards even when their owners offered keys". Property and cash was seized and not returned.
Amnesty said it had documented incidents in which US soldiers had shot at Iraqi demonstrators.
The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said: "Of course we take very seriously any such allegations by an organisation like Amnesty. I will study the allegations and the evidence behind them with very great care and if, as I suspect, I think it appropriate, I shall also ensure they are discussed with the Americans.
"I don't accept that the US government takes the view that ends justify means."
Presenting a memorandum detailing allegations of ill treatment, Mahmoud Ben Romdhane, head of the organisation's delegation in Baghdad, warned that the promise of human rights for Iraqis had yet to be fulfilled.
The report was handed to Paul Bremer, the US civil administrator in charge of the country. "It is shameful to still hear of people detained in inhumane conditions without their family knowing where they are and with no access to a lawyer or a judge - often for weeks on end," Mr Ben Romdhane said.
Amnesty said its investigators had spoken to people subsequently released by coalition forces who complained they had been held in tents in extreme heat and not provided with enough drinking water.
"They were forced to use open trenches for toilets and were not given a change of clothes - even after two months' detention," the human rights organisation said.
In some cases coalition soldiers had failed to promptly implement release orders issued by Iraqi magistrates: "This is a flagrant breach of the rule of law."
Amnesty documented several cases of torture. "Khreisan Khalis Aballey, 39 ... was allegedly hooded and handcuffed and made to stand or kneel facing a wall for nearly eight days while he was being interrogated," the report said.
"He suffered from sleep deprivation as a bright light was placed next to his head and distorted music was played. His knees bled so he mostly stood, and by the end he said his leg was swollen to the size of a football."
The report accused US soldiers of conducting searches after having "smashed their way into cars and cupboards even when their owners offered keys". Property and cash was seized and not returned.
Amnesty said it had documented incidents in which US soldiers had shot at Iraqi demonstrators.
The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said: "Of course we take very seriously any such allegations by an organisation like Amnesty. I will study the allegations and the evidence behind them with very great care and if, as I suspect, I think it appropriate, I shall also ensure they are discussed with the Americans.
"I don't accept that the US government takes the view that ends justify means."
