IRAQ CRISIS: Weekly round-up number 60 for 1-7 May

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Key Humanitarian Developments

The week in Iraq was overshadowed by the publication of controversial photos showing abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement released through his spokesman, said he was deeply disturbed by the pictures of the prisoners being mistreated and humiliated by their guards in the Abu Gharib prison in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

"He hopes that this was an isolated incident and welcomes what appears to be a clear determination on the part of the US military to bring those responsible to justice, and to prevent such abuses in the future," the spokesman said.

US President George Bush apologised saying he is "sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners" in US custody, the international media reported.

As fighting continues between Coalition forces and insurgents in the troubled city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, the Special Rapporteur on the right to health of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Paul Hunt, wrote to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) on Monday strongly recommending that it establish an independent and impartial enquiry into the health situation of the civilian population of Fallujah.

According to some reports, of the estimated 750 civilian deaths, 90 per cent were non-combatants, a UN statement said. "These are extremely serious allegations," the Special Rapporteur said. "An independent investigation can establish whether or not they are true. If they are not true, the Coalition should not be falsely accused. If they are true, steps must be taken to ensure these grave breaches of international law do not recur. Lives are at stake - and so is the Coalition's credibility", he said.

The United Nations human rights office has started a report on civil liberties in Iraq hoping to be completed by the end of this month.

Acting High Commissioner Bertrand Ramcharan has also added his voice to the expressions of revulsion regarding reports and photographs depicting the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by Coalition forces, José Luis Díaz, spokesman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in response to questions at a press briefing.

As UN international staff cannot travel to Iraq, the report is being compiled from information gathered through the media, the CPA, the Iraqi Governing Council, the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry, NGOs, the Red Cross and local UN staff, Díaz said.

Meanwhile, United Nations Special Adviser Lakhdar Brahimi has returned to Baghdad to seek an agreement on forming a caretaker Iraqi government by the end of May, once sovereignty is handed over from the CPA on 30 June, a UN statement said.

With elections scheduled before the end of January 2005, Brahimi, who will consult with a broad spectrum of Iraqis on the composition of the new body, told the Security Council last week: "Though it will certainly not be easy, we do believe that it shall be possible to identify, by the end of May, a group of people respected and acceptable to Iraqis across the country, to form this caretaker government."

He said Iraqis were near unanimous that a prime minister should lead this government, and that a president should serve as head of state, with two vice-presidents.


CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Child malnutrition increasing in south
IRAQ: Civilians caught in Fallujah crossfire tell their story
IRAQ: Focus on Turkish Kurdish refugees in north
IRAQ: NGOs still active in north
IRAQ: Insecurity hinders election recruitment
IRAQ: Focus on situation in Fallujah
IRAQ: New arrivals from Fallujah at Baghdad camp

[ENDS]