Hooded Iraqi prisoner gives testimony of torture
-12/5/04
Christian peacemakers in Iraq have recorded the testimony of a man who identified himself in one of the photographs of naked, hooded prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.
In the testimony made by the man who said he was also a political prisoner under Saddam Hussein's regime, the abuse is described in detail, allegations are made against several interrogators and soldiers allegedly involved in abuse are named. A Brigadier General is also named as knowing what was happening.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who have maintained an almost constant presence in Iraq since October 2002 presented the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) with a dossier of statistical data compiled from seventy-two case studies of the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees, including torture, in January.
Two members of CPT, Le Anne Clausen and Stewart Vriesinga have now recorded the testimony of a man who identified himself in one of the photographs of naked, hooded prisoners. They recorded the testimony on May 9th, 2004 at the office of an Iraqi human rights organization in Baghdad. The testimony was simultaneously recorded in Arabic.
Excerpts from the testimony are as follows:
"Before I was tortured, I was a physical laborer. I could carry over 100lbs. Now my back is ruined, I can't lift anything. I can't travel far because I cannot control my bladder. One day recently, I was walking and I had to run into a hotel and beg them to let me use the bathroom.
"I was held for four months and six days.
"I spent eighteen days naked. For eighteen days I was talking without control. I answered `yes' to all their questions. They asked me if I was part of Ansar Islam (a Kurdish militia). I said yes. They asked me if I was in Mohammed's Army (another militia). I said yes. Al Qaeda, and so forth. I admitted to every charge. I said, "I know al Qaeda. Just kill me and get it over with."
"After interrogation, they gave me a bottle of water. A guard came up to me, took it from my hands, and dumped it on my head.
"They took me to a special room called the `presser,' where they played sounds at high volumes. They would only turn it off for one hour every night so I could sleep. At the same time, my hands and feet were bound in this small room and I had to sit with my arms and legs partially flexed for the twenty-three hours in the day. I was in this room for twenty-eight days.
"They tied me into a pose called the `Scorpion,' where they made me lie on my stomach and tied my hands to my feet behind me so my back was curved. They kept me like this for ten to fifteen hours at a time.
"One soldier kicked me in the jaw while I was lying down, and broke two of my teeth. After two days, I couldn't eat anything and they took me to an Iraqi doctor inside the prison. He treated me with injections and tablets. After fourteen days, my teeth were not improving so he removed them. My lips were badly swollen from being crushed during the kicking.
"One day they gave me an injection. The next day they gave me five injections. I couldn't control my arms or my legs. "When they forced us to make the human pyramids, they put bags on our heads. We were naked. They pushed us in the back until we lined up, then they pushed us, we would trip on things on the floor. Then they instructed us to climb on to one another into the pyramid.
"They would also [when hooded and naked] push us from behind until we walked into the back of another prisoner. Then they would order us to have anal sex with that person.
"This is the time that they would also put a rope around us, either by the neck or under our arms, and drag us across the floor.
"They said many insulting things to us regularly, such as "Shut the f--- up," "You are shi--," "Son of a b----," and "Bastard."
"Later I was sent to Camp 42, a smaller camp. There was no questioning about possible charges against me here. I became
nervous and said, "Look, I'm Osama bin Laden. Just kill me now."
"There were rules: for three months, there was no talking, no praying, and no reading Qu'ran. The only things allowed were
breathing, eating, using the toilet. You could pray and recite Qu'ran in your heart, but not out loud. You could sleep for one hour.
"If you were caught talking, one punishment was to chain one hand to the floor and one hand from the ceiling and stretch your arms apart for an extended time. Another punishment was to put water on you, to completely soak your clothes, and to put water in your bed.
"I never knew the charges against me during this time until three days before my release. Then they said they thought I may have been in the former military.
"I asked a soldier there, "Why?" and he told me his orders came from high up.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross came different times, a woman named Eva. During the visit, they would take a group of us who had been tortured, six or seven of us, out of the visiting room and replace us with other prisoners who hadn't been with us. Afterwards, they would punish all the prisoners if anyone spoke to the ICRC. They hung us by our wrists from the ceiling.
"We were fed pork for two days, then for a while we were given only one item out of an Army meal once per day.
"Our method of eating was sh--. We had no utensils, they took these out of the Army ration, we just had to eat it like babies. Our hands were bound. Later, we got two Army rations per day, twelve hours apart.
"We heard from the other prisoners about the demonstration they organized on the first day of Eid after Ramadan. The U.S. guards shot and killed four prisoners. The prisoners who were there told us that afterwards, a black U.S. soldier apologized for the killings and played a recording of Qu'ranic verses on the loudspeaker system for all of us.
"Sergeant Joyner, Sgt. Bair, and Knockley, who has two `bars'óhe is the level below sergeantówere some of the soldiers who abused me. I witnessed Knockley rape a woman in front of her father and brother. I know [Brigadier General Janis] Karpinski saw what was happening to us.
"Among my interrogators there were Staff Sgt. Kris, a woman; Mr. Carlos, and Ms. Liz. When Ms. Liz left, she was replaced by Ms. Sarah. Mr. Carlos hated me, he was very bad. Kris was better than him, when Mr. Carlos left me she would come and wash the blood off my face and give me cigarettes afterwards. Also Sarah was better than Liz.
"I am willing to take CPT to another person who was tortured worse than me. They broke his ribs. I also want to take you to the family of a man who was with me who died during his torture. His young daughter saw the U.S. soldiers take her father away. Now, every time she sees soldiers, she asks them, "Where is my father? He went with you."
"I was a political prisoner under the old regime, and I was a political prisoner now. I was taken in 1999 and held at the
Olympic stadium complex where Uday [Hussein] was. There was also much mistreatment there but nothing like this. There, they tried to kill me, but they didn't try to humiliate me like this. I, and every Iraqi now, equate the two regimes, old and new.
"My documents say that I was in Abu Ghraib from December 1st to March 28th. However, that is just the time that I spent in that camp. I was arrested two days earlier before I was transferred to the camp.
"My wife left me after I returned home because I had so many psychological and physical problems. Really, this is the least of my problems, because everything else was so severe."
`Salaam,' (not his real name) who asked not to speak to reporters, was detained from November 29th 2003 to March 28th of this year in various detention centers, including two months in Camp 7 of the Abu Ghraib prison camp. He also spent one month and ten days in a military hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained under torture.
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