AMMAN, 21 June 2003 — Amnesty International yesterday urged coalition forces to ensure human rights are a priority in Iraq’s reconstruction, on the eve of a major economic forum in Jordan to be attended by Washington’s top civil administrator in Baghdad. “Amnesty’s message today is that in contrast to the rhetoric which preceded the war, too little attention is being given to the protection of human rights in Iraq,” David Petrasek, senior director for policy and evaluation, said.

“We are here to bring this message to the World Economic Forum and this message is that human rights are the essential foundation for rebuilding (Iraq),” he told a press conference in Amman.

US overseer in Iraq Paul Bremer will meet the international community for the first time at the three-day forum that opens today on the shores of the Dead Sea, with Iraq high on the agenda. The US-led coalition in Iraq is meeting with mounting resistance to its occupation and is finding its efforts to rebuild the country and fill the security vacuum progressing slowly.

Petrasek and Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East, Abdul Salam Sidiahmed, will also attend the forum to promote a report which warns that a lack of transparency and accountability are undermining rebuilding efforts in Baghdad.

“The (WEF) conference is being billed as looking into the future. It is worrying therefore that human rights issues are not even mentioned on the detailed eight-page agenda,” Amnesty said.

The report criticizes UN Security Council Resolution 1483 which ended more than 12 years of sanctions imposed on Iraq over its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and provided an international framework for the reconstruction process. Amnesty voiced particular concern over a “development fund” and “advisory and monitoring board” mentioned in the resolution, saying neither was a “proper international body with clear international accountability”.

“Without some international accountability, there is no assurance that either body will direct reconstruction efforts toward the protection of human rights,” Amnesty said

Sidiahmed, who has just returned from Iraq, insisted that “insecurity” is one of Amnesty’s main preoccupation along with the lack of a proper government and a legal framework to deal with past and present abuses.

“There are at least 2,000 Iraqis detained now on various charges ... the common factor between them is that we don’t know the charges against them and all of them have no access to legal representation,” he said.

“We met with some people from the coalition provisional authority and discussed some of our concerns. However, there is still a lot of confusion,” he said, because of a lack of communication between the military and civil authorities. “In terms of human rights issues what is important for us is justice for past and present violations and to ensure protection for human rights for the future,” he added.

Amnesty was able to meet with some former detainees who complained of ill-treatment and “torture in some cases” but the organizations has not been able to verify the claims, he said.

The organization is appealing on the United Nations to set up a special commission to oversee present and past abuses, especially those carried out under the former regime of Saddam Hussein. “You can’t rebuild Iraq and sweep all that under the carpet, there have been massive crimes in that country,” Petrasek said.