A new report says Iraqi authorities are illegally detaining thousands of Iraqi women and subjecting many to torture, rape and threats of sexual abuse. Human Rights Watch said women reported being kicked, hung upside down, beaten on their feet, given electric shocks and sexually assaulted during interrogations by security forces. Sarah Leah Whitson from Human Rights Watch described the findings.

Sarah Leah Whitson: “We have found dozens of cases of women who said they signed confessions due to torture. We have ourselves documented their torture on their bodies, seen the marks left behind. We have talked to judges who themselves have verified being put under pressure to convict women without evidence. In Iraq still, there is an abiding sense of absolute impunity for the security services, which is blessed and sanctioned by the government. Until Maliki makes clear that he will not tolerate torture and abuse, either in Iraq’s prisons or in Iraq’s police stations, we can expect this to continue.”