Petrelis Files

(What would Mrs. Roosevelt say?)







State Dept Iraq Report:
Human Rights Ministry Post Vacant

Who's in charge of the Iraqi human rights ministry over in Baghdad? Or maybe the question should be, is anyone is charge of that ministry?

A Feb. 15 Associated Press wire story reported the following, which says there is person heading the ministry:

> Iraq's human rights minister said Wednesday that more than 100 Iraqis were tortured last year in a secret prison in Baghdad and she would recommend prosecutions of officials, including judges who did not report the abuses.

> The torture occurred in Interior Ministry buildings, including one in Baghdad's Jadriyah district, said the minister, Nermine Othman.

Then on Feb. 16, the Reuters news service put out a story, quoting someone else as the minister:

> Iraq's Human Rights Minister Zuhair al-Chalabi called on U.S.-led troops to release Iraqi detainees on Thursday after the new footage emerged of abuse at Abu Ghraib, which along with other detention centers holds 14,000 prisoners.

Given the rampant confusion and mess of everything in Iraq, it wouldn't surprise me if there were two ministers for one branch of the transitional government. On the other hand, I don't understand how the two wire services could put out their stories, each quoting someone different as in charge of the human rights ministry.

At the time the stories ran, the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report for that period listed the human rights minister's slot as vacant. Click here, then read page 10, for the government chart.

Since then, the latest Iraq weekly report shows the post is still vacant. Go to this link, and on page 10 you'll find the latest list of ministers, minus the human rights minister.

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like the State Department and the Bush administration to tell me if someone is running the human rights ministry, who that person might be, and if, as the weekly status reports show, no one is in charge of this crucial component of the transitional government, why is it the chair of this ministry is empty.