Pressure on Baghdad grows

The British government Monday accused Iraq of systematic and vicious human rights abuses in a detailed report that appeared designed to keep the pressure on President Saddam Hussein while weapons inspectors in Baghdad continue their work.

The 23-page catalog of rapes, torture, and other atrocities aims "to remind the world that the abuses of the Iraqi regime extend far beyond its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction in violation of its international obligations," British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said.

The report was issued six days before the deadline set by the UN for Iraq to make a complete declaration of its weapons or face "serious consequences."

The Iraqi government has so far appeared to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors who began their task last week, offering none of the harassment and obstruction that halted earlier inspection efforts.

That has led to some speculation that the Iraqi leader may be trying harder to convince world opinion that he is complying with UN Security Council resolution 1441, which implicitly threatens the use of force if Baghdad does not provide an accurate inventory of its chemical, biological and nuclear projects, and allow inspectors to verify it.

Should President Hussein succeed in that aim, he would complicate the US administration's declared goal of overthrowing him, obliging Washington to act alone - or with a small group of allies - rather than with the legitimacy of a United Nations mandate.

Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, the human rights watchdog that has protested Iraqi human rights violations for decades, accused Mr. Straw of "cold and calculated manipulation" of the situation in Iraq to bolster the case for military action against Hussein.

"What is of concern to us is the tendency to use human rights reports to try to justify political goals" said Amnesty International spokesman Kamal Samari. "We haven't heard the British authorities or Western governments speaking out against Saudi Arabia or Israel."

President George W. Bush made respect for human rights one of the conditions for peace with Baghdad when he addressed the UN last September. "If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will cease persecution of its civilian population ... as required by Security Council resolutions," Mr. Bush said.

A 1991 UN resolution called on the Iraqi government to cease repression of ethnic and religious minorities, which it said threatened international peace and security.

No other government, however, has followed Washington in threatening war should Saddam Hussein continue to violate human rights. Indeed such action would mark a radical shift in US foreign policy: Even President Jimmy Carter, who made respect for human rights a cornerstone of his policy toward foreign governments, never suggested he would declare war on abusers.

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