[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
BAGHDAD, 17 January (IRIN) - The Iraqi government must move fast to curb sectarian violence and establish the rule of law to prevent the deaths of more innocent civilians, said a United Nations senior official and an Iraqi analyst.
"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his cabinet have to move quickly and invest all they have to stop the bloodshed in Iraq, otherwise everything will collapse around them," Dr Hafidh Jamil Mubarak, a professor of political science at Basra University, said on Wednesday.
"Fighting these militant and armed groups is not the only solution because this could lead to more casualties among civilians. Al-Maliki should have an olive branch in his other hand to spare as many innocent lives as he can," Mubarak added.
Yet another grim picture for Iraq's deteriorating security situation was painted on Tuesday when the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said just over 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed last year and nearly 37,000 wounded.
"Without significant progress in the rule of law, sectarian violence will continue indefinitely and eventually spiral out of control," Gianni Magazzeni, the UNAMI chief, said as he issued UNAMI's ninth bimonthly report on the human rights situation in Iraq at a news conference in Baghdad.
UNAMI's latest figures
- 34,452 Iraqi civilians killed in 2006
- 36,685 wounded in 2006
- 6,376 killed in Novermber and December
- 4,731 killed in November and December in Baghdad
The report, which covered the period of 1 November to 31 December 2006, stated that 6,376 civilians were killed violently in November and December - 4,731 of them in Baghdad - and that most died as a result of gunshot wounds. This breaks down to be just over 100 deaths a day.
Magazzeni said that this was a slight decrease from the previous two-month period, during which UNAMI recorded just over 7,000 civilians killed. UNAMI's latest report added that figures from some provinces were not yet included in the total for December. UNAMI spokesman Saed Erikat declined to name these provinces saying technical issues were behind this. He refused to elaborate.
Rampant sectarian violence
The figures were released as Baghdad braced itself for a major security operation, to be launched by the Iraqi government and US forces, aimed at quelling the rampant sectarian violence that has been on the rise since last year's bombing of a Shi'ite mosque in the northern city of Samarra.
UNAMI's figures are almost three times as high as those reported in early January by the Iraqi government, which put last year's civilian death toll at just over 12,000.
When asked about this discrepancy, Magazzeni said the UN figures were compiled from information obtained from the Iraqi Health Ministry, hospitals across the country and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad (the capital's main morgue).
UNAMI report called on the Iraqi government to step up efforts to restore law and order. "The root causes of the sectarian violence lie in revenge killings and lack of accountability for past crimes as well as in the growing sense of impunity for ongoing human rights violations," it stated.
"It is essential that the state and the government of Iraq are seen as united in their efforts to contain and eventually eradicate sectarian violence, to ensure the rule of law and, through that, remove the popular basis of support for the perpetrators of this violence."
Iraqi government officials refused to comment on the UNAMI report, claiming that they had not yet received a formal copy of it.
We want deeds not words. This government has failed to ensure the simplest rights: security and respect for human rights
The report also discusses and expresses UNAMI's concern regarding the situation of women and minorities "whose basic rights and freedoms are profoundly affected by the violence and action by insurgents, militias and criminal gangs".
It blamed sectarian violation as a major cause for an ever-growing trend in the displacement and migration of all Iraqis.
Furthermore, the UNAMI report highlights the frequent attacks by militias on Palestinian refugees in Baghdad and calls on the Iraqi government to ensure the necessary protection of all Palestinian compounds.
"Every day there is evidence of brutality in Iraq and no one can do anything about it," Hamid Rajab Salih, a 44-year-old mathematics teacher, said.
"We want deeds not words. This government has failed to ensure the simplest rights: security and respect for human rights," Salih added.
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[ENDS]