Amnistía Internacional publicou hoxe un breve informe sobre a dramática situación de Iraq, cinco anos despois da invasión comandada polos Estados Unidos. Pero xa sabiamos que clase de democracia ían traer, anunciárono ben claro para non seren acusados de hipocrisía: “Estados Unidos compartirá el petróleo iraquí con los países que le apoyen en la guerra” (El País, 16 – IX – 2002).
O informe leva por título “Carnage and despair: Iraq five years on”. Copio un extracto da introducción:
Five years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussain, Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Hundreds of people are being killed every month in the pervasive violence, while countless lives are threatened every day by poverty, cuts to power and water supplies, food and medical shortages, and rising violence against women and girls. Sectarian hatred has torn apart families and neighbourhoods that once lived together in harmony.
Despite the heavy US and Iraqi military and police presence, law and order remain a distant prospect. The US-led Multinational Force (MNF) and the Iraqi government formed from political parties that gained from or emerged out of the 2003 invasion have failed to institute the rule of law, uphold human rights, bring peace and security, or end impunity. [...]
Much of the money available to those running Iraq has been spent on security, including private security firms. Little has gone to the millions of Iraqi children, women and men who are living in poverty. In fact, in December 2007 the Iraqi government cut the number of items covered by the food rationing system introduced in 1996 under the Oil-for-Food programme. Today, more than two in three Iraqis do not have access to safe drinking water, more than four in 10 live on less than a dollar a day, half the population of working age is unemployed, and eight million people need emergency aid to survive. [...]
In the past five years, tens of thousands of people have been killed, some in targeted assassinations, but the majority in bomb explosions or suicide attacks in crowded areas chosen to maximize civilian casualties. All sides have committed gross human rights violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. [...]
At least four million people have become displaced – nearly 15 per cent of Iraq’s estimated total population of 27 million. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about two million people are living in Syria and Jordan, while at least 2.2 million others are displaced inside Iraq and living in appalling conditions. [...]
Around 60,000 people are being detained by Iraqi security forces and the MNF. Most are being held without charge or trial. Torture and other ill-treatment are routine in prisons, detention centres and police stations controlled by Iraqi security forces. [...]
With the virtual disintegration of the state and the rise of radical Islamist groups, women who do not wear Islamic dress are being threatened, abducted and killed. Unlike before 2003, many Iraqi women now feel obliged, by the threat of attack or reprisals, to wear Islamic dress. [...]
Peaceful political dissent is not tolerated. People are being arbitrarily arrested and detained for political opposition activities. Torture and other illtreatment are frequently reported and prisoners are being sentenced to death. Women are apparently being killed in “honour crimes” in increasing numbers.
