Amnesty criticises timing of Iraq torture dossier

3.00pm

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has launched an onslaught against Saddam Hussein's brutal human rights record as he attempted to stiffen public opinion in favour of possible military action against Iraq.

The Foreign Office released a graphic 23-page dossier detailing the "terrifying" Iraqi regime. But the publication sparked immediate accusations of political opportunism from human rights groups, while left-wing Labour MPs claimed the Government was "softening up" the public for war.

The dossier, published six days before the deadline for Saddam to release details of his illegal arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, details Iraqi torture techniques including eye gouging, mock executions, lowering victims into acid baths, and mutilating hands with electric drills.

Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, said the report was designed "to remind the world that the abuses of the Iraqi regime extend far beyond its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction."

But Amnesty International accused the Government of failing to speak out about human rights abuses in a string of states allied to the West.

A spokesman said: "We are concerned about the timing and whether that introduces a measure of political opportunism."

Hania Mufti, of the international pressure group Human Rights Watch, added: "This does not contain any new information ... The timing would not be so much of an issue if it came against a background of previous actions by the Government to expose human rights violations."

Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, warned: "The question which people who are concerned about human rights will undoubtedly be asking is why this information had not been brought together before now.

"This dossier, no matter how horrific its terms, would not provide cover for action against Iraq unless it were accompanied by a mandate from the UN."

Alice Mahon, the left-wing Labour MP, said she would be asking why similar dossiers had not been compiled on other states with records of human rights violations.

She said: "Why is this being published now? We know all of this is part of a softening up exercise."

Tam Dalyell, a Labour MP, added: "I think that this highly unusual, indeed, unprecedented publication is cranking up for war."

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Herald feature: Iraq