UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he was concerned by the continuing human suffering in Iraq, but would not say why the latest UN human rights report made no mention of the number of civilian casualties caused by the ongoing war. The quarterly UN report published this week denounced human rights violations, but broke with past practice by not publishing the number of people killed during the reporting period. It prompted charges of a cover up by the Iraqi government, according to dpa. "I am concerned by the sectarian conflict and human suffering and believe that the UN should help (the situation)," Ban told reporters. He refused to explain why there was no casualty report. Past reports by the UN mission in Iraq gave the number of casualties with information provided by the Iraqi government. The UN report in January covering 2006 said 34,452 civilians were killed and more than 36,000 were injured in the conflict. The January report caused strong reaction at a time when the White House ordered a surge in US troops in Iraq. Critics said civilians remained the victims in the war as US-led multinational forces battle Iraqi insurgents and sectarian violence continues to take its toll. The New York-based Human Rights Watch, in reaction to this weeks' UN report, called on Baghdad to immediately make public official figures on civilian casualties. "Iraqi citizens face extreme violence every day and they deserve a full and accurate picture of what is taking place," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Human Rights Watch's Middle East director. "The Iraqi government should make public its figures on civilian deaths even if the picture is bleak," she said. "Withholding the facts will not make the situation any safer." -- SPA
