The UN's top human rights official has called for an international ombudsman to monitor the behaviour of US-led occupation forces in Iraq.
In a new report, the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, welcomed the ousting of Saddam Hussein but said that since the war, troops had mistreated many ordinary Iraqis.
He also suggested that American soldiers who carried out abuse in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison could be guilty of war crimes.
Mr Ramcharan said that despite the good intentions of US-led forces, there had been serious violations of human rights in recent times, including the arbitrary jailing of large numbers of people.
US soldiers killed in Baghdad attack
In a separate development, four American soldiers have been killed and five wounded in an attack in Baghdad.
A military spokesman said their convoy was attacked in the eastern district of Sadr City.
UN resolution endorsement
Earlier, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari gave his broad endorsement to a revised draft UN resolution on the future of his country.
Mr Zebari told the UN Security Council that the Iraqi people needed the presence of US-led forces to stabilise the situation.
However, he said the country's interim government should have a say about how long they will remain.
The development is seen as improving the chances that the resolution, sponsored by the US and Britain, will be passed.
Mr Zebari said there was no contradiction between the desire for sovereignty and the wish for coalition forces to remain.
