Iraq's justice minister demanded Tuesday that the UN Security Council ensure
that a group of US troops are punished for allegedly raping and murdering a
young Iraqi and killing three members of her family, calling the attack
"monstrous and inhuman."
Two women legislators also called for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to be
summoned to parliament to give assurances the US soldiers would be punished for
the March 12 attack on the family in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad.
In this photo provided
by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Steven D. Green is shown in A
booking mug shot at the Mecklenburg County jail in Charlotte, N.C.,
Monday, July 3, 2006. [AP]
|
The attack was among the worst in a series of cases of US troops accused of
killing and abusing Iraqi civilians. Iraq's largest newspaper, Azzaman, said in
an editorial Tuesday the rape "summarizes what has been going in Iraq for the
past years not only by the American occupation army, but also by some Iraqi
groups."
Former private Steven D. Green appeared in federal court in North Carolina on
Monday to face murder and rape charges. At least four other US soldiers still in
Iraq are under investigation for the slayings, and the military has stressed it
taking the allegations seriously.
"If this act actually happened, it constitutes an ugly and unethical crime,
monstrous and inhuman," said Justice Minister Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shebli
al-Shebli, a Sunni Arab. "The Iraqi judiciary should be informed about this
investigation which should be conducted under supervision of international and
human organizations. Those involved should face justice."
"The ugliness of this crime demands a swift intervention of the UN Security
Council to stop these violations of human rights and to condemn them so that
they will not happen again," he added.
The two lawmakers, Safiya al-Suhail and Ayda al-Sharif, said condemning the
attack was not enough.
"We demand severe punishment for the five soldiers involved," al-Sharif said.
"Denouncements are not enough. If this act has taken place in another country,
the world would have turned upside down."
Al-Suhail said al-Maliki should appear before parliament "to make sure
investigations are taking place."
Mahmoudiya Mayor Mouayad Fadhil said Iraqi authorities have started their own
investigation and that he had asked the hospital where the victims were taken
for more details.
According to a federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers from the
101st Airborne Division had talked about raping the young woman, whom they first
saw while working at a traffic checkpoint near her home.