NEW
YORK, October 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The New
York-based Human Right Watch accused the American occupation forces of
"excessive or indiscriminate use of force" against civilians
in Baghdad as well as failing to conduct proper investigations in
cases of civilian deaths in the Iraqi capital.
In
a 56-page report released Monday, October 20, the group documented 20
cases of Iraq civilians deaths between May 1, when U.S. President
George Bush declared an end to the major combat operations in Iraq,
and September 30.
The
report, "Hearts and Minds: Post-War Civilian Casualties in
Baghdad by U.S. Forces," also featured credible reports of 94
civilian deaths in Baghdad, all involving "questionable legal
circumstances" that warrant investigation.
"This
number does not include civilians wounded by U.S. troops,"
stressed the human rights group, asserting the report was based on 60
interviews with Iraqi witnesses, victims' relatives, police records,
local and international human rights groups, media accounts, and the
U.S. military.
The
HRW concluded that "soldiers were often too quick to resort to
the use of lethal force, which was not always directed at the intended
target."
No
Probes Or Counting
It
scolded the U.S.-led occupation authority of failing to properly
investigate cases of civilian deaths arising from excessive use of
force by U.S. troops in the capital.
"The
precise number of Iraqi civilians killed by U.S. soldiers since the
end of major military operations is unknown, and the U.S. military
told Human Rights Watch that it keeps no statistics on civilian
deaths," read the report.
"It's
a tragedy that U.S. soldiers have killed so many civilians in
Baghdad," said Joe Stork, acting executive director of the Middle
East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.
"But
it's really incredible that the U.S. military does not even count
these deaths. Any time U.S. forces kill an Iraqi civilian in
questionable circumstances, they should investigate the
incident," he stressed.
To
date, the Americans concluded only five probes into unlawful deaths,
with the conclusion that soldiers acted "within the rules of
engagement" in four cases, said the HRW report.
 |
|
"It takes a while to get the Rambo stuff out," admitted an American soldier
|
Conducting
its own investigations in two cases, the human rights watchdog found
evidence that U.S. soldiers had "used excessive force, including
shooting a person who had his hands in the air and beating a
detainee."
Stok
underlined that the "cases we documented in this report reveal a
pattern of over-aggressive tactics, excessive shooting in residential
areas and hasty reliance on lethal force."
"Iraq
is clearly a hostile environment for U.S. troops," Stork said,
stressing "that does not absolve the military from its legal
obligations to use force in a restrained and proportionate manner, and
only when necessary."
The
report also documented several cases in which U.S. soldiers have
behaved with unnecessary rudeness toward Iraqi civilians.
The
group strongly recommended that "U.S. forces desist from the
practice of putting their feet on the heads of Iraqis whom they have
detained face-down on the ground."
U.S.
military officials told HRW they were providing extra training for
U.S. forces, with one admitting that "it takes a while to get the
Rambo stuff out."
Stork
said the lack of high-level investigations into many questionable
incidents had created an atmosphere of impunity.
"Soldiers
must know they will be held accountable for the improper use of
force," he said. "Right now, soldiers feel they can pull the
trigger without coming under review."
The
human rights watch-dog proposed that U.S.-manned checkpoints should be
better marked with signs in Arabic and lights, and interpreters should
accompany all raids.
"Iraqi
civilians have a right to know how they are expected to behave at
checkpoints and during raids," stressed the report, adding that
the U.S.-led occupation forces "should make such information
available through the local media."
Last
month, the human rights group Amnesty International condemned a
virtual license
to kill given to occupying troops in Iraq, with
no proper probes into civilians killed by U.S. soldiers.
