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Human Rights Still A Concern In Iraq

1,572 views · Published 29 April 2009 · 1:07 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: United Nations · 2009 · News & Politics

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United Nations, New York, 29 April 2009 - Daily Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) today issued its 14th report on the human rights situation in the country, which says that the second half of last year was characterised by further improvements in security, although the overall human rights situation in Iraq remains a matter of concern. 
The report says the situation in prisons and detention centres still remains an issue of concern, and it recommends reviewing the legal framework in order to make the essential move away from a system based on confessions to one that is based on evidence. UNAMI stands ready to help in this process.
The report shows that gender-based violence remains one of the key unaddressed problems throughout Iraq. Numerous murders of women under the guise of so-called "honour killings" are still being recorded as suicides, the report shows, while in the Northern Region of Kurdistan the practice of female genital mutilation remains a tolerated practice. 
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, whose staff helped compile the report, said "the situation of Iraqi women is extremely difficult" and she urged the authorities to make it a priority to both improve legislation, and law enforcement in order to protect them properly.

SPECIAL TRIBUNAL FOR LEBANON
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said today that the Tribunals Pre-Trial Judge, Daniel Fransen, had received a submission from Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare on Monday in which the Prosecutor stated that he does not seek the continued detention in Lebanon of four generals, in connection with the 14 February 2005 attack on former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Bellemare had said that he was guided by three basic legal principles: the presumption of innocence; the principle that detention of persons presumed innocent must always be the exception and not the rule; and the need for sufficiency of credible and admissible evidence. On the basis of those principles, the Prosecutor concluded that the evidence was insufficient at this time to warrant filing indictments against any of the four detained persons.
The Pre-Trial Judge accordingly decided today to grant their release.

News Story: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30629&Cr=iraq&Cr1=human+rights

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