Iraqi secret torture centers: US and UK silent

The Observer/Guardian has revealed the scandalous results of its investigation into human rights abuses committed by Iraqi police and defense forces: proof of extrajudicial executions, heinous tortures, and some abuses even within the walls of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior. One of the groups most feared by Iraqis, and according to the Observer report one of the most abusive, is the "Wolf Brigade," the Army batallion featured on a reality TV show that actually shows men threatening detainees and joking about abuses. The abuses and tortures are common knowledge in Iraq, and The Observer/Guardian proposes that the Iraqi government has diverted British and American aid to the police and defense forces to these activities, and that officials of both countries are aware of this. Read the gory details here. Or, read a summary here:

The Observer has seen photographic evidence of post-mortem and hospital examinations of alleged terror suspects from Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle which demonstrate serious abuse of suspects including burnings, strangulation, the breaking of limbs and - in one case - the apparent use of an electric drill to perform a knee-capping.

The investigation revealed:

- A 'ghost' network of secret detention centres across the country, inaccessible to human rights organisations, where torture is taking place.

- Compelling evidence of widespread use of violent interrogation methods including hanging by the arms, burnings, beatings, the use of electric shocks and sexual abuse.

- Claims that serious abuse has taken place within the walls of the Iraqi government's own Ministry of the Interior.

- Apparent co-operation between unofficial and official detention facilities, and evidence of extra-judicial executions by the police.