Defence Minister George Fernandes has expressed his ‘‘outrage’’ at the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US occupation troops and appealed to political parties to condemn the incident. In an official statement, Fernandes today asked political parties to speak as one voice and demand that international laws are observed and respected.Fernandes is the first NDA minister to have commented on the ill-treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani called the Abu Ghraib episode ‘‘disgusting”. Fernandes said : ‘‘We call upon the world community to insist upon the implementation of international laws governing the treatment of prisoners of war, beginning from Saddam Hussein right down to the ordinary man and woman on the streets of Iraq.’’ Terming the abuse as a ‘‘breakdown of ethical norms in the chain of command of the US army’’ Fernandes said this was an indication of the US Army’s disregard for international laws. Such behaviour, he said, also exposed the lack of ‘‘humanitarian conduct.’’ He added that the US had much to explain and owed an apology for the incidents.
