Torture allegations overblown, Iraqi minister says

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Torture allegations overblown, Iraqi minister says

November 17, 2005 08:11:00 am

[JURIST] Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr [CBS News profile] said Thursday that reports of abuse [JURIST report] of detainees by Iraqi security forces were exaggerated. Jabr said that only five people discovered at a prison in an Interior Ministry building were malnourished, and that many of those detained were suspected terrorists. Jabr said an investigation had begun into allegations of torture. Earlier, Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, deputy interior ministry, said that some prisoners were subjected to ill-treatment by investigators, and he called for a unified command for prisons in the country to prevent torture. The 173 detainees, mostly Sunni Arabs and many underfed and showing signs of torture, were discovered after US troops seized the Interior Ministry building last weekend. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari [BBC News profile] ordered an investigation [RFE report] into the prison earlier this week. AP has more.

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