UN asks US, UK to release Iraq war documents

A United Nations’ special rapporteur has called on the United States and Britain to release documents on their use of torture in the Iraq war, Press TV reports.

“Despite this clear repudiation of the unlawful actions carried out by the Bush-era CIA, many of the facts remain classified, and no public official has so far been brought to justice in the United States,” UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism Ben Emmerson said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council.

Emmerson, a British international lawyer, called on Washington “to publish without delay and to the fullest extent possible” the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA rendition. He also called on Britain to submit its own version of the report as well.

He added that the two states’ failure to submit the reports would suggest a “de facto immunity,” as ample evidence on the use of torture techniques, such as “waterboarding” existed.

Emmerson is also involved in an investigation into drone attacks carried out in countries such as Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen.

In 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in a blatant violation of international law and under the pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction (WMD) allegedly stockpiled by the former Iraqi ruler. However, no WMD were ever discovered in Iraq.

More than one million Iraqis were killed as a result of the invasion and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.