US pact 'could mean torture'

A landmark US military pact approved by Iraq's parliament could lead to Iraqi detainees being tortured or executed at the hands of their own government, a London-based human rights group said. Amnesty International said today the new agreement, which would transfer legal responsibility over thousands of detainees in US custody to Iraqi judges beginning next year, gave them no protection from mistreatment. "(The agreement) does not provide any safeguards whatsoever for prisoners transferred to Iraqi custody," said Malcolm Smart, who heads the group's Middle East and North Africa Program. "These prisoners will potentially be moving from the frying pan into the fire," he said. "We receive persistent reports of gross human rights violations, including torture, taking place in Iraqi prisons." The US military is currently holding over 16,000 prisoners in Iraq, and according to the new agreement their files would be handed over to Iraqi judges, who would decide their fate. The rights group said that high-profile detainees - especially former high-ranking officials in Saddam Hussein's regime - were at particular risk of being executed on the orders of Iraqi authorities. The wide-ranging military agreement would require US troops to depart from all Iraqi cities and towns by the end of June 30 and to complete their withdrawal from the country no later than December 31, 2011. The pact was approved by a large majority of the nearly 200 MPs out of the 275-member assembly who showed up to vote on it, and will replace the UN mandate currently governing the troops, which expires on December 31.