Iraq's justice minister condemns US detentions

Iraq slams U.S. detentions, immunity for troops 14 Sep 2005 12:57:00 GMT Source: Reuters By Mariam Karouny and Alastair Macdonald BAGHDAD, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Iraq's justice minister has condemned the U.S. military for detaining thousands of Iraqis for long periods without charge and wants to change a U.N. resolution that gives foreign troops immunity from Iraqi law. Speaking to Reuters, Justice Minister Abdul Hussein Shandal also criticised U.S. detentions of Iraqi journalists and said the media, contrary to U.S. policy in Iraq, must have special legal protection to report on all sides in the conflict. "No citizen should be arrested without a court order," he said this week, complaining that U.S. suggestions that his ministry has an equal say on detentions were misleading. Shandal said he was concerned about the U.S. military's refusal to accord special consideration to the media and at the number of journalists detained for many months by U.S. troops. Among these are two cameramen for Reuters. One of them is Ali Omar Abrahem al-Mashhadani, who was ordered detained by the CRRB last month as a "threat to the people of Iraq". The military will not say what suspicions it has against him. Asked to clarify the CRRB definition of "threat", Shandal said: "It's a catch-all term to portray this person as a threat to the nation and allow the other side to keep him in custody." Asked if the government approved of such measures, which U.S. generals say they implement with Iraqi official support, he said: "I am a man of law and a judge and I respect human rights ... No citizen should be arrested without a court order." Read more at: Reuters Juan Cole at Informed Comment also writes on this giving some history to the problem: In modern times most Middle Eastern states have come to view immunity from local prosecution for Europeans as a form of national humiliation. Shandal's sentiments are widely shared.