A/RES/54/178 Page 3 Reaffirming that it is the responsibility of the Government of Iraq to ensure the well-being of its entire population and the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in Iraq, which particularly affects certain vulnerable groups, such as children, inter alia, as stated in the reports of several United Nations human rights treaty bodies, and appealing to all concerned to fulfil their mutual obligations in the management of the humanitarian programme established by the Security Council in its resolution 986 (1995), 1. Welcomes the interim report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Iraq16 and the observations, conclusions and recommendations contained therein, and notes with dismay that there has been no improvement in the situation of human rights in the country; 2. Strongly condemns: (a) The systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the Government of Iraq, resulting in an all-pervasive repression and oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror; (b) The suppression of freedom of thought, expression, information, association, assembly and movement through fear of arrest, imprisonment, executions and other sanctions; (c) The widespread use of the death penalty in disregard of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and the United Nations safeguards; (d) Summary and arbitrary executions, including political killings and the continued, so-called cleanout of prisons, as well as enforced or involuntary disappearances, routinely practised arbitrary arrests and detention, and consistent and routine failure to respect due process and the rule of law, for example, in the execution of delinquents for minor property offences and customs violations; (e) Widespread, systematic torture and the enactment and implementation of decrees prescribing cruel and inhuman punishment as a penalty for offences; 3. Calls upon the Government of Iraq: (a) To abide by its freely undertaken obligations under international human rights treaties and international humanitarian law and to respect and ensure the rights of all individuals, irrespective of their origin, ethnicity, gender or religion, within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction; (b) To bring the actions of its military and security forces into conformity with the standards of international law, in particular those of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; (c) To cooperate with United Nations human rights mechanisms, in particular by receiving a return visit by the Special Rapporteur to Iraq and allowing the stationing of human rights monitors throughout Iraq pursuant to the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights; 16 See A/54/466. /...