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U.S. vows to prosecute Iraqi war crimes
From Terry Frieden
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials vowed Friday to vigorously prosecute members of the Iraqi military who they charge are committing a wide range of war crimes -- including the use of human shields, the execution of prisoners, and the illegal use of hospitals by Iraqi fighters. "During the last 10 days we have seen a disturbing, consistent and systematic pattern of war crimes being committed by the Iraqi forces," a senior Bush administration official told reporters. "War criminals will be hunted relentlessly and judged severely," President Bush told a group of war veterans at the White House. "Prisoners of war have been brutalized and executed. Iraqis who refuse to fight for the regime are being murdered," Bush said. "Some in the Iraqi military have pretended to surrender, and then opened fire on coalition forces that were willing to show them mercy. "Given the nature of this regime, we expect such war crimes. But we will not excuse them." Officials said they have begun cataloging reports of the illegal actions and have asked U.S. military forces to include in their mission the preservation of evidence that could help prosecute the war crimes after the hostilities have ended. The officials said the United States intends to conduct the prosecutions for crimes against U.S. combatants, rather than turn the defendants over to an international court or tribunal. They also promised that Iraqis charged with committing war crimes before the outbreak of the current war would be prosecuted. Crimes from past conflicts would be prosecuted by a yet-undetermined, Iraqi-led body that would include those now in exile. The officials said they had begun discussions with Iraqi exile jurists about prosecution of Iraqi government figures for such things as the gassing of Kurds, the brutal suppression of Shia, and the rape and torture of political prisoners. "The Iraqis have a thirst for justice, and it is our view we need to be prepared to assist them in this endeavor," one official noted. The officials, who asked not to be identified, cited a list of actions since the outbreak of the war in which they believe Iraqis violated specific international treaties and conventions, as well as internationally accepted customs of wartime practice. These senior legal officials said they have seen reports of Iraqi forces attacking civilians fleeing areas of combat or trying obtain aid from coalition forces. "We have seen a lot of reports of forced conscription where Iraqi forces are literally at gunpoint forcing people to go and fight, with the threat of death, or actual death in some cases," an official said. He cited numerous reports of Iraqis using human shields and of illegally using a flag of surrender in order to ambush coalition forces. One U.S. official said reports of Iraqi combatants wearing civilian clothes is a clear violation of international law. "We've seen reports of egregious activities where coalition soldiers after surrendering have been executed," one official said. Officials also cited reports of Iraqi soldiers using protected zones such as hospitals for military purposes. The U.S. officials, many of them experts on the laws of war, cited a series of provisions from Geneva Conventions, international treaties and U.S. laws that may apply. Officials insisted they have a wide range of options on how to prosecute the cases, including the use of both military and civilian courts, but emphasized no decisions have been made on where, when or how to proceed. Officials acknowledged some difficulty in determining when the photographing of prisoners of war violates international law. U.S. administration and military officials have strongly criticized the televising of U.S. prisoners by Arabic-language television stations. The experts said the intentional insulting or degrading of prisoners through certain types of photography, especially when it is state-sponsored activity, must be differentiated from news coverage and the more permissible practice of showing groups of prisoners at a distance where individuals are not recognizable.
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