The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-4 Thursday for a bill that would impose sanctions on Iraq because of human rights violations. The measure said the Iraqi government has ``systematically detained, tortured and executed'' thousands of citizens, depopulated Kurdish areas of the country and murdered and tortured children to punish their parents. The fate of the bill in the Senate is uncertain. The Bush administration has opposed the measure. The legislation would require the United States to oppose any lending to Iraq by international financial institutions and bar U.S. government credits to the country. That would cost Iraq $200 million a year in credits through the Export-Import Bank as well as even larger amounts in loan guarantees used to buy U.S. farm products.
