Attacks Targeted Civilians and Security Forces Alike
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 212-633-4150, @strimel
(New York) — Amnesty International today condemned a wave of bomb attacks and shootings on Monday in Baghdad and other cities across Iraq that reportedly killed at least 100 people and left many more wounded.
The apparently coordinated attacks appear to have targeted both Iraqi civilians and members of the security forces.
"Deliberate attacks on civilians can never be justified," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa. "Such attacks show a total disregard for basic principles of humanity and we condemn them. There must be now prompt, thorough and impartial investigations. Those suspected of being behind these attacks must be brought to justice in proceedings that meet international standards of fairness, and without the imposition of the death penalty."
Violence has decreased in Iraq since 2007, but bombings and other attacks on civilians have increased since the end of last year amid deepening political tensions in the country.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for these attacks.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.