“This torture is against humanitarian law,” Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly said. “No one can accept it, neither Iraqis nor Americans, British or Italians.”
In statements to the Missionary Service News Agency, the Chaldean leader said that the “Lord gave us intelligence to speak, explain and convince: This is the only acceptable way.”
The Iraqi patriarch added that it is inadmissible “to use this intelligence to torture others; the entire world is in agreement on this point.”
Patriarch Delly would not comment on the possible consequences of the torture suffered in the past months by the Iraqi prisoners. “It is not up to us to judge these aspects,” he said.
“It will be up to the judges and tribunals to evaluate what occurred,” the patriarch added. “But as leader of the Christian community, I have a duty to remind of the principles enunciated by the our Lord: to love one another, doing everything possible to reduce suffering and not inflict it on others.”
