Human right report accuses Kurdish forces of child torture in Iraq

An Iraqi woman is treated at a hospital in Irbil, Iraq, on Jan. 15, 2017, after being shot by an Islamic State sniper.
IRBIL, Iraq — Children have been tortured after being detained by Kurdish security forces here on suspicion of collaborating with the Islamic State, a Human Rights Watch report charged Sunday. The human rights group said it spoke to 19 of 183 boys aged 11 to 17 being held in a facility in this northern Iraqi city in December. It said 17 of them alleged that the security forces, called Asayish, "held them in stress positions, burned them with cigarettes, punched and kicked them, beat them with plastic pipes and cables, and shocked them with electricity."
Human Rights Watch researchers wrote that they saw visible marks on the bodies of five of the detainees. The detainees said their treatment was meant to extract confessions. Most of the alleged abuse happened before they were transferred to Irbil's Reformatory for Women and Children. "None knew the content of the confessions they confirmed with fingerprints — some were illiterate or blindfolded, and others said that they were not allowed to read them and could not have because they were written in Kurdish," the report said. All of the interviewed boys were Sunni Arabs except for one Kurd. Some of the interviewees said they had been forced to work for the Islamic State temporarily, while the others said were never in that position. Dindar Zebari, head of the Kurdish Regional Government's committee that evaluates and responds to international reports, said in a letter to Human Rights Watch that torture and extrajudicial procedures are illegal under Kurdish law. "Officers accused to be mistreating prisoners action will be taken to follow up on their misconduct in the court of law," he wrote in a Jan. 17 statement on his Twitter account.
On Thursday, an employee of the reformatory, who declined to give his name, said that only about 60 boys are being held in the facility at the moment. USA TODAY was barred access to the facility to confirm that figure.
... More

Comments

Help Stop An Execution

Nearly two years ago, the eyes of the world were on Oklahoma, where a man named Richard Glossip was facing execution for a 1997 murder many people say he was not involved in. I learned about Richard’s case when actress Susan Sarandon contacted me, expressing deep concern that the State of Oklahoma was just about to kill an innocent man. After reviewing the facts, I too became convinced of Richard’s innocence, and we decided to make a public plea for the governor to gra nt freedom On 30 September 2015, Richard came within minutes of execution by lethal injection, when officials suddenly stopped the proceedings. As it turned out, the state of Oklahoma had procured the wrong execution drug, risking another botched execution that would lead to a slow and painful death. At the last minute, Governor Mary Fallin, not exactly an opponent of the death penalty, issued a stay of Richard’s execution. Today, Richard’s situation is nowhere near being resolved. As the st...

Gunmen Kidnap Commissioner In Cross River

The Police have confirmed the kidnap of the Cross River State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Gabriel Odu-Oji. According to the State Command, Mr Odu-Oji was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the early hours of Sunday in Calabar South Local Government Area of the state. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tunde Gbolarumi, confirmed the incident during a telephone interview with Channels Television. Mr Gbolarumi said the Command has blocked all exit roads, with a strict stop and search exercise of all vehicles coming in and out of Calabar, aimed at preventing the kidnappers from fleeing out of the state’s capital successfully. He noted that the Police and other security agencies will not rest in their oars in ensuring that the Commissioner, whom he said is still within Calabar according to intelligence report, is released without being hurt nor any ransom paid. The Deputy Commissioner of Police appealed to the public to avail security agencies with necessary information that would lead...

#UEFA - THE ROARING NOISE OF THE KICK OFF STADIUMS IS BACK

Today, the action returns with the strongest, fastest, fittest, swiftest, bravest and of all the Champions. What are we the fans to expect? well as for me, i am Catalonia for life, and today we go for victory, we have done it before with Juventus in the 2015 finals, we had the greatest come back in the history of the game and tonight again we go for victory. FC Barcelona for eternity till eternity. But first lets discuss what we could probably be expecting from this week UEFA game. Tonight we have the following game and what could be the outcome, well i always say football is a that the unexpected keeps happening, and i still hold on to that, but it is always about the fittest, strongest, fastest, swiftest, and bravest during the game, for a single mistake can cause the team that game. Add caption #FC Barcelona vs Juventus FC - a tough game it will be, it could be a game of revenge for Juve and a game of the best for Barcelona, two great teams, with lovely and unique players, who know...

Abbey's Gist

Search This Blog