Dutch violated human rights in Iraq in 2003: report

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch soldiers violated the human rights of Iraqis in 2003 when they detained about 90 for a day without food and water, a newspaper quoted military police as telling an investigation.

The daily Volkskrant said on Friday the police made the allegations to an independent committee which is investigating possible abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

The Defense Ministry ordered the inquiry in November after Volkskrant reported Dutch military intelligence had abused prisoners in Iraq in 2003 by hosing them with water to keep them awake and exposing them to bright light.

"Military police have reported 'violations of human rights' by marines in south Iraq to the investigative committee," the newspaper said.

Spokesmen for the committee and the defense ministry said they would not comment before the committee's report was published, probably by mid-June. Dutch military police were not immediately available for comment.

Dutch soldiers detained more than 90 Iraqi suspects in the Iraq city of Samawa in October 2003 during an operation to stop weapons' sales, the newspaper said. It printed one of more than 200 photographs of the operation it said it obtained.

Some suspects were handcuffed so tightly the blood circulation to their hands was stopped, its report said.

A military police officer told the committee the suspects' treatment violated the rules of war, the newspaper said. Dutch troops arrived in Iraq in August 2003 after the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein. They withdrew two years later.

On Tuesday, Dutch television program NOVA reported three Dutch military intelligence officers might have broken interrogation rules in 2003 while questioning prisoners in Iraq, citing excerpts of the committee's report NOVA said it obtained.

The former Dutch Minister of Defense, Henk Kamp, has said that in October 2003 15 suspects were interrogated by military intelligence and security officers but that no punishable actions had taken place.

The independent committee was established just days before a national election. The Christian Democrats held on to power at the November 22 poll before forming a coalition.

Some Dutch politicians drew parallels with the uproar over abuse by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Scandals have also erupted in Britain and Germany over the behavior of their troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.