Iraq abuse as bad as in Saddam era: ex-UN official

HUMAN rights abuses in Iraq are as bad now as they were under Saddam Hussein, as lawlessness and sectarian violence sweep the country, the former UN human rights chief in Iraq said yesterday.

John Pace, who last month left his post as director of the human rights office at the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, said extra-judicial executions and torture is soaring, and morgue workers are being threatened by government-backed militia not to properly investigate deaths.

“Under Saddam, if you agreed to forgo your basic right to freedom of expression and thought, you were physically more or less okay,” Pace said. “But now, no. Here, you have a primitive, chaotic situation where anybody can do anything they want to anyone.”