The United Nations should investigate the allegations of torture against US and British forces in Iraq, a top Russian diplomat was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Both London and Washington have launched inquiries into torture by their troops in Iraq after media published pictures purporting to show prisoners being abused.
"This torture is a clear violation of human rights. It complicates the process of bringing order to Iraq in that it causes even greater dislike of foreign occupation," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Yuri Fedotov, told the Interfax news agency.
"We think this question has to be put under the scrutiny of the UN Commission for Human Rights."
Russia is a permanent veto-holding member of the UN Security Council. It opposed the US-led attack on Iraq but has since repaired ties with Washington, although it calls for greater UN involvement in Iraq.
Since the pictures were first published last week, criminal charges of cruelty and mistreatment have been brought against six US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.
But a number of political and media commentators have questioned the integrity of the evidence against British soldiers, which was published in the Daily Mirror newspaper. The paper has said it stands by the photographs.
Comments
Comments are closed.