United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan released a report which characterized the US’s policy of detaining thousands of Iraqis without trial as “de facto arbitrary detention.” The report further said, “The extent of such practices is not consistent with the provisions of international law governing internment of imperative reasons of security.” The report is the result of a 3 month study of the Iraqi prison system which found several human rights lapses. Annan praised Iraq’s December elections but also called for the release of investigations into alleged systemic torture in Iraq Interior Ministry jails. He also noted with concern the rise in sectarian strife and attacks on places of worship and increased cases of execution killings—of the 787 bodies found in December 2005, 479 had bullet wounds.