posted on Apr, 2 2003 @ 04:34 PM
. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 4 (a) of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/65.
I. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
2. The Special Rapporteur notes that since his first visit to Iraq in January 1992, he has not been allowed to return. The Government of Iraq has
refused, since 1993, to respond directly to the Special Rapporteur through correspondence. Moreover, the Government of Iraq has refused to cooperate
with United Nations human rights mechanisms by allowing the stationing of human rights monitors throughout Iraq as requested by the resolutions of the
General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights. In assessing the veracity of information received, the Special Rapporteur considers its source or
sources, its detail, and its context and then seeks corroborative information. While the Special Rapporteur is not able to determine definitively the
veracity of all reports and allegations received, his accumulated experience leads him to conclude that it is important to report serious allegations
which are prima facie credible insofar as they are consistent with past events and the established pattern within the country.
3. Notwithstanding the Government of Iraq's refusal to cooperate with the placement of human rights monitors inside Iraq, the Special Rapporteur was
able to send a staff member from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to Kuwait in order to receive information concerning the
fate of Kuwaitis and other persons who disappeared during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. The fate of this particular group of persons forms part of the
mandate of the Special Rapporteur as a result of paragraph 3 (g) of Commission resolution 1998/65.
II. VIOLATIONS OF CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
4. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur continued to receive numerous allegations of human rights violations affecting the Iraqi
population living in the southern governorates, the Shiite religious community, the Kurds, as well as referring to a continuous campaign of executions
in Iraqi prisons.
More of this article
Human rights watch report
Amnesty
International
US State Department
From Fear to Fredom