Iraq planning to prosecute prison torture suspects: rights officials News
Iraq planning to prosecute prison torture suspects: rights officials

[JURIST] Officials for Iraq's Human Rights Ministry have said that they plan to prosecute those suspected of torturing inmates of the country's prison system, according to a Wednesday report [AFP report]. The country signed on to the UN's Convention Against Torture [text] on Sunday, but has not yet explicitly prohibited the practice. Prosecutors say they will find a way to use existing laws to charge offenders. The officials say the have documented dozens of cases of torture in Iraqi-run detention facilities, and that United Nations Special Investigator on Torture Manfred Nowak [UN materials], who has voiced grave concern over conditions in the country [BBC report], plans to visit Iraq in October. In 2005 Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] issued a report [HRW materials, press release] citing numerous incidents of torture and prisoner abuse in the country since the 2003 US invasion.

In November 2005 US troops found 173 prisoners [JURIST report], many abused, in a secret bunker run by the Interior Ministry. Earlier that year, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that Iraq's detention practices may violate international law and expressed concern [JURIST report] over the failure of Coalition forces to publish the results of their investigation into the torture allegations. In December 2005 Iraq Interior Minister Bayan Jabr [CBS profile] fired [JURIST report] Nouri al-Nouri, the country's senior inspector handling human rights issues, in connection with a torture scandal involving dozens of prisoners at a Baghdad prison. Jabr himself has been accused of running secret prisons [JURIST report] and controlling death squads, charges he has downplayed or denied [JURIST report].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Charles Manson sentenced to death

On April 19, 1971, Charles Manson was sentenced to death for ordering the murders of Sharon Tate and others. The sentence was then commuted to life after the Supreme Court of California overturned the death penalty in 1972. Learn more about the trial of Charles Manson from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law.

The Beatles signed 10-year partnership

On April 19, 1967, John, Paul, George and Ringo - aka "The Beatles" - signed a partnership deed agreeing that the group would continue for a (further) period of ten years. When The Beatles split up prematurely in 1970, Paul applied to have the partnership terminated and a receiver appointed.

Read a legal analysis of Paul McCartney’s 1970 lawsuit against John, George and Ringo.

More This Day @ Law... ▸