HRW Calls on Baghdad to Admit to Holding Prisoners; 25 Killed in Iraq

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch asked Iraq to declare the number of detention centers the country is running and who is controlling them. In one case, the National Security Services denied holding suspects, but officials were forced to backpedal when HRW members saw prisoners at a jail in Mosul for themselves. HRW also requested that Baghdad not keep detentions a secret from suspect’s families. Tens of thousands of suspects are believed held by any of a number of agencies. At prisons where observers have talked with detainees, they’ve been told stories of torture, deaths, overcrowding, and poor conditions.

Overall, at least 25 people were killed, and three were wounded:

In Mosul, eight bodies were recovered from under rubble near the Tigris River. A dumped body was also found.

Two policemen and a militant were wounded during a clash near a judge’s home in Kirkuk.

An airstrike on Balkana left 15 militants dead.

A militant was killed in Zanqar.

Protest news:

Protests continued on Sunday. Also, Basra’s provincial council made one of its perennial requests for an autonomous zone, much Kurdistan’s.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.