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CAIR via US NewsWire.Com - Sept. 27, 2005
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=54116 

Council on American-Islamic Relations - Sep 27, 2005

U.S. Troops Use Photos of Iraqi Corpses to Access Porn

CAIR Calls for Pentagon Probe, Says Practice May Violate International Law

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A prominent national Islamic civil
rights and advocacy group today called on the Pentagon to probe allegations
that American troops in Iraq are using photographs of Iraqi corpses as
"currency" to gain access to Internet pornography.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the grisly practice,
which the Washington-based group says may violate international laws of war,
came to light in recent media reports.

According to California's East Bay Express: "The captions that accompany
these images, which were apparently written by the soldiers who posted them,
laugh and gloat over the bodies. . .One soldier posted three photographs of
corpses lying in the street and titled his collection "DIE HAJI DIE." The
soldiers take pride, even joy, in displaying the dead."

SEE: "War Pornography"
http://eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2005-09-21/news/news.html

"This disgusting trade in human misery is an insult to all those who have
served in our nation's military," said CAIR Legal Director Arsalan Iftikhar
in a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Iftikhar told Rumsfeld
the Pentagon should "investigate this troubling phenomenon and do whatever
is necessary to bring it to an end."

According to the Geneva Conventions: "The remains of persons who have died
for reasons related to occupation or in detention resulting from occupation
or hostilities and those of persons not nationals of the country in which
they have died as a result of hostilities shall be respected."

SEE: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/93.htm 

CONTACT: 

Arsalan Iftikhar, 202-488-8787 or 202-415-0799, 
e-mail: arsalan@cair-net.org; 

Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, 
e-mail: ihooper@cair-net.org; 

Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, 
e-mail: rahmed@cair-net.org

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 31 offices and
chapters nationwide and in Canada.  Its mission is to enhance the
understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower
American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual
understanding.

To read CAIR's Mission, Vision Statement and Core Principles, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=About

NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a journalist's window to the
American Muslim community.  Subscribers to the list, called ISLAM-INFONET,
receive news releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim
positions on issues of importance to our society.

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