Legal Issue Paper HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAQ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legal Issue Paper HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAQ - Essay Example Iraq has seen different periods of government rule and the human rights in Iraq have been different in the different periods of rule. The human rights in Iraq can be divided into three distinct periods, the pre-Saddam period, the period of Saddam Hussein, and the post war period. The military in Iraq plays a very important role in maintaining an atmosphere of pressure and fear on which the government of Iraq rests. The Iraqi military forces have a lot of power and the government usually does not make an attempt to investigate any human rights abuse cases. The Iraqi government's human rights record is very poor. Human rights like the right to freedom of speech, the right to freedom of press, and the like were restricted by the government. Human rights in the pre-Saddam period were very poor. The abuses of human rights on the citizens were prevalent from this period itself. The Hashemite monarchy is considered the most imperfect rule in terms of human rights. The influence of prime ministers and leaders of the military was huge and the civil and human rights of people varied from place to place. During this period Jews had face a lot of discrimination. They were deprived of property and Iraqi nationality. In 1949 Iraq's Prime Minister also suggested that Iraq may expel its Jewish population .1 Following this, from 1950 to 1951 more than 120,000 Jews left Iraq for Israel in a mass emigration. This mass emigration was one of the largest airlift operations in history .2 Human rights in the pre-Saddam period faced a lot of ups and downs as Iraq saw many different leaders and governments. Human rights were often violated due to the differences between various rulers and members of different ethnic communities. Many rulers and regimes discriminated certain groups and communities, which resulted in the violation of human rights to these affected communities. Saddam Hussein was one of the most famous Iraqi leaders. Human right during his rule faced a lot of torture and mass murder. During Saddam's rule the military and paramilitary forces had a lot of power, which they used to violate many human rights. The methods used to maintain control during his rule were secret police, forced disappearances, targeted assassinations, murders, and torture. Regular reports of widespread torture and murder were reported by the Amnesty International and Human Right Watch. Many human rights organizations have documented many cases of torture, murder, approved execution, and rape during Saddam's rule between 1979 and 2003. Human rights in Saddam's rule were affected in many ways. People were executed for reasons such as supporting the opposition, or not being in favour of the President. Women were executed saying they practised prostitution and some men were executed for supporting them. Mass execution used to take place in prisons as part of a prison clean out activity. Political killing were another way of murdering people. Widespread disappearances continued to take place with hundreds of people missing. "The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq has reported that such records have been found with regard to a considerable number of persons followed, wanted or detained in northern Iraq, many of whom subsequently disappeared" (Lawson, Bertucci and Wiseberg 522). Though the Iraqi constitution prohibited torture and arbitrary arrest and detention, the military and security forces regularly