Thousands of Iraqis buried unidentified: ICRC

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

Thousands of Iraqis buried unidentified: ICRC
By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of Iraqis killed since 2003 were buried without being identified by their families, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Citing Iraqi public sources, the Geneva-based humanitarian organisation estimated 375,000 to 1 million Iraqis remained unaccounted for from a series of conflicts that started with the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

"Missing persons might have been captured, abducted, perhaps killed and buried in unmarked graves, or they may lay in a hospital in critical conditions or linger in a hidden place of detention," the ICRC said in a report issued ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared on Aug. 30.

ICRC director of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said there were no figures on disappearances since the U.S.-led invasion four years ago although people went missing daily and morgues were struggling to cope with scores of unclaimed corpses.

Some 10,000 bodies brought to Baghdad's Medical-Legal Institute over the past year have never been identified and 4,000 unknown victims have been buried in special cemeteries in Najaf and Kerbala since 2003, he told a news conference.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29745841.htm

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1. Thanks, Cheney