Deler av Irak er som et eget univers, der den destruktive oppfinnsomheten ikke kjenner noen grense. Torturen er nå verre enn under Saddam, sier FNs Manfred Nowak. Kidnappingsofre brukes som selvmordsbombere uten å vite det.

Insurgents are now using unwitting kidnap victims as suicide bombers — seizing them, booby-trapping their cars without their knowledge, then releasing them only to blow up the vehicles by remote control, the Defense Ministry warned Thursday.
..

«According to our intelligence information, recent car bomb explosions targeting checkpoints and public places have nothing to do with (traditional) terrorist operations,» the Defense Ministry said in its statement.

It said that first «a motorist is kidnapped with his car. They then booby-trap the car without the driver knowing. Then the kidnapped driver is released and threatened to take a certain road.»

The kidnappers then follow the car and when the unwitting victim «reaches a checkpoint, a public place, or an army or police patrol, the criminal terrorists following the driver detonate the car from a distance.»
..
The United Nations’ chief anti-torture expert warned Thursday that torture may now be more widespread than it was under Saddam’s regime, with militias, terrorist groups and government forces disregarding rules on the humane treatment of prisoners.

«What most people tell you is that the situation as far as torture is concerned now in Iraq is totally out of hand,» Manfred Nowak said in Geneva.

More than a dozen apparent victims of death squads were found in the capital Thursday, many showing signs of torture.(ap)