UN: WikiLeaks Files Should Prompt Iraq Abuse Probe

The United Nations’ top human rights official has called on U.S. and Iraqi authorities to investigate allegations of unlawful detainee killings and abuse contained in recently-released secret military documents.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Tuesday the files released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks indicate U.S. authorities knew about widespread torture and ill-treatment of Iraqi detainees by Iraqi forces, yet transferred thousands to Iraqi custody between early 2009 and July 2010.

Pillay also said the files allegedly refer to “many undisclosed instances in which U.S. forces killed civilians at checkpoints and during operations.”

The commissioner said the information adds to concerns that serious breaches of international human rights law have occurred in Iraq. She urged the U.S. and Iraq to prosecute anyone believed responsible for torture, unlawful killings and other abuses.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. Defense Department’s second highest official called the WikiLeaks documents “stolen material,” saying they give adversaries key insight into how the United States military operates.

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn told reporters during a visit to Baghdad “there are groups out there” that have said they are mining the data to use against the United States. Lynn did not say which groups, or how the Pentagon knew they were researching the material.

Meanwhile, in Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said WikiLeaks may have even more secret material than U.S. officials previously believed.

WikiLeaks last week released nearly 400,000 classified U.S. documents on the Iraq war, and in July posted 77,000 secret U.S. files on the Afghanistan conflict. The website is also believed to have another 15,000 Afghan war field reports, 260,000 diplomatic cables, and U.S. video of casualties in Afghanistan.

The documents published Friday indicate there were 15,000 unknown or unreported Iraqi civilian deaths and that more than 100,000 people were killed following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

But General George Casey, who commanded U.S. forces in Iraq from 2004 to 2007, told reporters Monday there was no effort to undercount civilian deaths. In fact, he said, U.S. military personnel went into Iraqi morgues to count civilian casualties.

General Casey, who is now the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff, also rejected suggestions that U.S. forces turned a blind eye to Iraqi prisoner abuse. He said that U.S. policy was to stop any abuse and then immediately report it to higher American and Iraqi military authorities.

Some information in this story was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.