The human-rights group Amnesty International says Iraqi security forces operating alongside U.S.-led multinational forces are torturing prisoners in Iraq.
In a report Monday, the London-based rights group says human-rights situation in Iraq is dire.
Prisoners in facilities run by Iraqi security forces have been subjected to beatings and electric shocks, Amnesty International says, and a number of prisoners have died.
The report says thousands of Iraqi detainees classified by the multinational force as "security internees" are being held without charges and are unable to contact lawyers.
Amnesty International says it is imperative that multinational authorities and the Iraqi government re-assert the importance of fundamental human rights if they want to stop Iraq from sliding into civil war.