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IRAQ HAS been castigated in three human rights reports for failing to protect its citizens from a range of attacks and abuse. They have been issued as Iraqi politicians are under pressure to stop stalling the formation of a government by challenging the results of the March 7th parliamentary election.

The Minority Rights Group placed Iraqis third on a list of people most under threat, after Somalis and Darfuris and ahead of Afghans. The plight of Iraqi civilians was elaborated by Amnesty International in a 28-page report, Iraq: Civilians Under Fire, which blamed the largest number of fatalities on bombings mounted by the Sunni Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella grouping of local jihadi groups affiliated with al-Qaeda.