A human rights group said that Iraq's main court fails to meet international fairness standards, with judges relying on evidence from secret informants and confessions that are probably coerced.
New York-based Human Rights Watch also said thousands of prisoners wait months or years before learning the charges against them in the Central Criminal Court. The group noted that the already overburdened court's caseload will rise when U.S. troops begin handing over prisoners next month under the new U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.
The U.S. military said a 25-year-old detainee died of an apparent heart attack while in custody at a U.S. detention facility at Camp Cropper in Baghdad. No name or nationality was released.
The British government is doubling the maximum cash payment it can give to severely wounded soldiers after criticism that amputees and other veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars were not being suitably compensated. The Defense Ministry said the increase -- to about $855,000 -- will apply retroactively.
Some Pakistani truckers are refusing to haul military supplies to NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan because of attacks along the main route from Peshawar through the Khyber Pass. Shakirullah Afridi, the president of the Khyber Transport Union, said no offer of improved compensation would change the drivers' minds. NATO spokesman Lt. Cmdr. James Gater said he was unaware of any disruption to the supply lines.
NEWS SERVICES
