UN: Civilian Death Toll in Iraq Climbs

Iraqi view the site of a mortar attack, which destroyed one car and wounded a civilian, in Basra, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2006. Top U.S. generals warned Wednesday that violence will increase in Baghdad during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and said al-Qaida in Iraq had intensified it's assaults against American troops while death squad killings spiked around the capital. (AP Photo/Nabil Al-Jurani) (Nabil Al Jurani - AP)

The U.S. military had initially claimed a drastic drop in the death toll for August, but the estimate was revised upward after the United States revealed it had not counted people killed by bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks.

The report said torture was a major concern in Iraq and the bodies showed significant evidence of it.

"Bodies found at the Medico-legal Institute often bear signs of severe torture including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances, missing skin, broken bones (back, hands and legs), missing eyes, missing teeth and wounds caused by power drills or nails," the report said.

On other issues, the report painted a similarly grim picture. It said about 300,000 people had been displaced in Iraq since the bombing of a shrine in Samarra in February, and reported a rise in honor killings against women.

The U.N. has also received several reports of Iraqi journalists facing prosecution for their reporting. In one case, for example, three reporters working for a newspaper faced trial for articles criticizing a regional government and accusing police and the judicial system there of violating basic human rights.

The report said more than 35,000 Iraqis were under detention, including 13,571 by multinational forces. That represents a 28 percent increase over the number at the end of June, it said.

The U.N. special rapporteur has received allegations of torture in prisons run by Iraq's interior and defense ministries, as well as ones under multinational control.

Iraqi non-governmental organizations "expressed their frustration at the current situation and stressed the urgent need for the U.N. and other international entities to intervene in order to prevent further human rights violations," the report said.

However, the U.N. special rapporteur for torture, Manfred Nowak, has so far been unable to go to Iraq because the government has not provided him the necessary invitation, it said.