Iraqi insurgents guilty of crimes against humanity, says Amnesty

IRAQI: Armed groups fighting against the US-led force in Iraq are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice, according to Amnesty International.

In a report published today, the human rights organisation said insurgents trying to sabotage the creation of a new Iraqi state were showing "utter disdain for the lives of Iraqi civilians and others".

While Amnesty acknowledged that US and allied forces had committed "grave violations, including killings of civilians and torture of prisoners", the armed groups resisting them had failed "to abide by even the most basic standards of humanitarian law".

Amnesty said there was no valid justification for the deliberate killing of civilians, hostage-taking, or the torture and killing of defenceless prisoners. "Those who order or commit such atrocities place themselves totally beyond the pale of acceptable behaviour."

The 56-page report documents a variety both of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including suicide bombings, attacks on UN and humanitarian organisations, deliberate attacks of female activists promoting women's rights, and threats and violence before last January's elections. Drawing on Iraqi government casualty figures, the report, Iraq, In Cold Blood: Abuses by Armed Groups, says an estimated 6,000 Iraqi civilians have died and at least 16,000 have been wounded in attacks by armed groups between March 2003 and April 2005.

Amnesty has already issued a number of reports accusing the US-led multinational force of human rights abuses, including a highly critical report on the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

In the latest publication, the organisation said: "The behaviour and policies of the occupying forces appear to have encouraged many people to join armed groups, in addition to mistrust over the US government's intentions with regard to Iraq's oil reserves.

"But abuses committed by one side do not and can not justify abuses by another.

"There is no honour nor heroism in blowing up people going to pray or murdering a terrified hostage. Those carrying out such acts are criminals, nothing less, whose actions undermine any claim they may have to be pursuing a legitimate cause."

Amnesty urges religious and community leaders in Iraq and abroad, especially those in the Sunni community, to condemn publicly attacks by armed groups against civilians and other abuses. The report noted that the stance of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the highest Sunni religious authority in Iraq, was "ambiguous when it comes to the targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks and other abuses.

"Prominent AMS members have talked in media interviews about the 'resistance', but have rarely made the position of the AMS clear on issues relating to international humanitarian law, especially the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants."

The report noted another prominent Islamic organisation, the Qatar-based International Association of Muslim Scholars, had denounced the kidnapping and killing of civilians but only in a qualified way.

Amnesty also called on both sides in the Iraq conflict to respect international humanitarian law, and on other governments in the region and elsewhere to "prevent their territory being used by anyone to provide military or other assistance to armed groups in Iraq that could contribute to abuses such as those described in this report".

Amnesty said it "neither supported nor opposed the war in Iraq, and takes no position on the legitimacy of armed resistance against foreign or Iraqi troops".

It said, however, "without doubt, Iraqi civilians have paid a high price for getting rid of Saddam Hussein's regime, and continue to do so. To an extent, they have been caught up in the crossfire between the troops of the US-led multinational force and Iraqi armed groups opposed to the US-led occupation and the new Iraqi administrations it has fostered.

"Both sides have committed serious abuses of human rights resulting in the deaths or injury of Iraqi civilians, and this pattern looks set to continue."