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Wednesday, May 05, 2004

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Opinion - Editorials

THE HORRORS OF THE OCCUPATION

THE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT show American soldiers inflicting torture and sexual abuse on Iraqi Prisoners of War offer a peek into the brutal record set by the forces in neo-colonial occupation of this West Asian country. Inmates of the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad were stripped naked and piled in a human pyramid, forced to simulate sex with one another, attacked by dogs, and wired to receive electric shocks. Personnel of the military police contingent assigned to guard these prisoners added insult to injury by taking photographs that have now been telecast across the world. While the high command of the United States military ordered an investigation and promised to punish the guilty, it appears intent on establishing that the guilt for these barbaric acts devolves upon a few perverted soldiers in the lower ranks. This will amount to an obfuscation since lawyers for the soldiers have asserted that their clients were instructed by officers of military intelligence units to deal with the prisoners in an inhumane manner. The troops were apparently indoctrinated to believe that they must cast aside the restraints of morality and common decency as they went about the task of subjugating Iraqis. The Abu Ghraib episode was not the only occasion of the American military violated international conventions; its soldiers have been just as vicious during combat operations.

Information about the ruthless methods adopted by the occupation forces has trickled out notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of the Coalition Provisional Authority to control the news flow. Hospitals, schools and private residences were attacked in the course of operations against the Iraqi national resistance. Aerial bombardment has been liberally resorted to and heavy armour sent into civilian neighbourhoods. In Fallujah, U.S. marine snipers targeted ambulances and those who were clearly non-combatants, including the elderly, women and children. Soldiers from contingents sent by other countries, such as the United Kingdom, are also known to have acted in an equally inhumane fashion on many occasions. The totality of the damage caused to Iraqi civilians might never be known since the relevant data, including casualty rates, have not been tabulated. The information currently available provides only a faint indication of the calamitous effects of the invasion and occupation.

In hiring civilians to carry out dirty work, such as the interrogation of prisoners, the occupation forces have found a way to bypass international law. The civilians accused of involvement in the atrocities committed in Abu Ghraib, including one who is alleged to have raped an Iraqi teenager, are likely to get away with their crimes. An occupation force that speedily instituted a tribunal to try Iraq's deposed President Saddam Hussein now claims it has no jurisdiction over the civilian firms that have been contracted to carry out many of the operations traditionally reserved for the military. The personnel of firms engaged to protect supply convoys and important installations have fought against the Iraqi resistance and it is very likely that some of them have committed excesses. With the occupation authority declining to prosecute any civilian, these mercenaries have reason to believe that they are immune from punishment. Such being the context, New Delhi must immediately stop the recruitment of retired personnel of the Indian defence forces for service in Iraq. India must not be seen to have any truck with an unjust and cruel occupation. Such an association will damage India's relations with the Arab world and bring dishonour to the people of this country.

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