Mrs MAY (3:00 PM) —My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister inform the House about the dossier released today by the UK government on Saddam Hussein's record of human rights abuses in Iraq? What is Australia's response to this report?

Mr DOWNER (Minister for Foreign Affairs) —I thank the honourable member for McPherson for her question and recognise the interest she shows in these issues on behalf of her constituents. The British government has, in the last few hours, produced a damning report on the human rights record of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The dossier details the appalling record of human rights abuses by Saddam and those closest to him and sets out the terrifying nature of the regime—a regime that controls the only state in recent times to have used weapons of mass destruction against its own people and which survives through oppression and fear. The dossier quotes, among other things, estimates that over 100,000 Kurds were killed or disappeared during the 1987-88 Anfal by Saddam's forces against Kurdish insurgents, including through the use of chemical weapons.

The dossier's contents do not come as a surprise to us. Australia has raised serious concerns about Iraq's human rights record in the past, including through co-sponsorship since 1991 of a resolution in the UN Commission on Human Rights expressing great concern over the Iraqi government's flagrant violation of the human rights of its own citizens. But the dossier does remind us of the cradle to grave regime of fear run by Saddam Hussein and his cohorts and that Iraq's abuses go well beyond his possession of weapons of mass destruction. Among other things, the dossier highlights the systematic, brutal repression of dissent. The report notes that official Iraqi instructions given to security forces on how to react to demonstrations were that 95 per cent of the demonstrators were to be killed and the remainder left for interrogation. It underlines the systematic, almost bureaucratic, use of torture. In mid-2000, the regime issued a decree approving amputation of the tongue as a penalty for slander against the president or his family. The dossier provides harrowing personal accounts of abuse and mistreatment, including a horrific account of a husband and wife's ordeal at the hands of the Iraqi torturers, the torture of the wife having taken place in front of their children.

I think the House would know only too well that the government's primary concern remains disarming Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction. As the House knows, we hope that this can be done peacefully. In disarming Saddam Hussein, the international community would vastly improve the security of the region, uphold global non-proliferation norms and deprive Saddam Hussein of one of his main tools of oppression. Let me also make clear that, in drawing attention to this dossier, we are not seeking to foreshadow any particular course of action, and we remain committed to the enforcement of Security Council resolution 1441. The dossier reminds us of the type of regime we are dealing with here. I suggest that all those on this side of the House, who definitely have an interest in the issue of Iraq, and those on the other side who may have an interest as well, take the time to read this report. I will happily make it available to the House at an appropriate time.