UN Special representative calls for action on rights violations

The special representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, on Monday called on the Iraqi people to take the lead in deciding how to deal with the massive human rights violations of the past. He was addressing the opening session of the first national human rights workshop in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, which brought together lawyers and human rights activists from different areas of Iraq with experts from the international community to discuss justice for past human rights violations in Iraq. Human rights groups say huge numbers of people disappeared under the previous regime, and their bodies are only now being found in mass graves. No one knows the exact number of victims, but conservative estimates put the number of those missing at 300,000. "The only non-discriminatory policy of Saddam was the systematic, across-the-board violation of human rights," Vieira de Mello said at the meeting, which was organized jointly by the Office of the Special Representative and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. "The mass graves that are being unearthed as we speak are a witness to some of the most egregious of violations of our most fundamental right: the right to life." Vieira de Mello said the international community had only belatedly acknowledged the need for accountability and justice for past human rights violations. He said the UN human rights system and NGOs had documented the suffering of the people - the political repression, the ethnic cleansing and widespread discrimination for more than a decade. "There is a marked contrast between those who have dedicated so much to seeking to record the crimes of the past regime with those governments - including my own - who contrived to turn a blind eye to that which was occurring in Iraq." A UN Security Council resolution adopted in May emphasizes the need for accountability for crimes and atrocities committed by the previous Iraqi regime. The participants in the meeting felt it was a major first step. "It is not just the victims of Saddam Hussein’s crimes but the whole world which wants to see those guilty being brought to court," said Rushed Rebuff al-Iris of the Association of Free Prisoners in Iraq. "We need to work together with the UN to make this happen." His view was echoed by Muhammad Insane, the minister of human rights in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KEG) in northern Iraq. "This is one of the main issues - before we start talking about reconciliation we have to establish justice," he said. "The families need to see the criminals responsible for the deaths brought to justice." A wide range of issues needed to be resolved, participants learnt. These include deciding whether a commission of experts, used in former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and East Timor, should be brought in to make an overall assessment of the level and extent of human rights violations in Iraq, and whether those accused should be dealt with by Iraqi courts, by an ad hoc international court or by a hybrid with both Iraqi and international elements.