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UK report reveals Iraq abuses
LONDON, England -- Britain has published a dossier of torture, rape and other human rights abuses carried out by the Iraqi regime. The report, released by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Monday, contains graphic first-hand accounts by Iraqi victims of the regime's human rights abuses, as well as intelligence material and evidence from aid charities working in Iraq. It makes clear that the abuses are carried out as a policy of the Iraqi dictator, Straw said. But human rights group have expressed scepticism about the motives behind the dossier's publication. Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan told the Press Association: "This selective attention to human rights is nothing but a cold and calculated manipulation of the work of human rights activists. "Let us not forget that the same governments turned a blind eye to Amnesty International's reports of widespread human rights violations in Iraq before the Gulf War." The report was published six days before Baghdad must submit a full declaration of its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or face "serious consequences" under United Nations resolution 1441. Teams from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are continuing their work in Iraq where they are looking for evidence that Iraq has been developing or stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. (Full story) Straw said that by disarming Iraq, "we not only help those countries in the region which are subject to Iraqi threats and intimidation, we also deprive Saddam of his most powerful tools for keeping the Iraqi people living in fear and subjugation." The report contains the "appalling human rights record of Saddam's regime", Straw said. In the introduction to the document - titled Saddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuses - the Foreign Office said: "Iraq is a terrifying place to live. "People are in constant fear of being denounced as opponents of the regime. They are encouraged to report on the activities of family and neighbours. The security services can strike at any time. "Arbitrary arrests and killings are commonplace. Between three and four million Iraqis, about 15% of the population, have fled their homeland rather than live under Saddam Hussein's regime. "These grave violations of human rights are not the work of a number of overzealous individuals but the deliberate policy of the regime. Fear is Saddam's chosen method of staying in power." The document went on: "Saddam Hussein has been ruthless in his treatment of any opposition to him since his rise to power in 1979. A cruel and callous disregard for human life and suffering remains the hallmark of his regime." The document listed Saddam's favoured methods of torture. They included eye-gouging, piercing of hands with an electric drill, suspension from a ceiling, electric shock, rape and other forms of sexual abuse, beating of the soles of feet, mock executions, extinguishing cigarettes on the body and acid baths.
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