(...) The [Iraqi] Minister for Human Rights, Bakhtyar Amin, isn't a man with a volatile temper. For more than 20 years he has championed the cause of human rights in his country. And he is infuriated that he had to learn of the abuses in Abu Ghraib from the media. ...
But he is just as upset at the reaction of Arab politicians and journalists, whom he accuses of hypocrisy for loudly criticizing the Americans. "They were all silent when the Saddam Regime executed thousands of prisoners", he says, once again in his role as the voice of the victims of the dictatorship. ...

"As bad as the American transgressions are", he continues, "we must not forget that our country is built on a boneyard." More than 300,000 people were inhumed in mass graves. The true tragedy is that, even today, there is still too little discussion about it. "But the victims have a long memory."

It is this memory that disposes many victims of the despotism to refrain from criticism of the US. For there are also images of the dictatorship's crimes, though they are mostly unknown in the West. One of them can be seen at the entrance to the Association of former political prisoners. It shows the hanging of an inmate.

In the background a guard is standing, one arm akimbo, on his face an expression of satisfaction.

Amin has some advice for Arab sovereigns: they should follow George W. Bush's example and apologize for the crimes they've committed. "Washington is showing us how a democracy deals with criminal behavior," Amin says. "We should learn from this, not only here in Iraq, but throughout the Arab world."