Executing OUR AUN: the Palm Tree (Febr. 24 2005) | Missing Before May 1, 2003: Iraqi families looking for their sons in American secret prisons (May 9 2005) | Detainees in the Captive Country- I and part II (May 30 2005) | In the New Iraq: The Democratic Example (June 02 2005) - Het nieuwe Irak: voorbeeld van democratie | One hour in Haditha: American Troops and Destroying Hospitals Strategy (June 06 2005) | Al-Qaim Hospital: Tragedy beyond Description (June 10 2005) | Haditha: A City Crushed under the Occupation (June 16 2005) | Al Qaim II (June 20 2005) - The Story of a Declared Attack- Al Qaim Again - Families Besieged in Refugee Camps (Oct. 07 2005) - Sectarian Cleansing Threatens Iraqi’s Future (Oct. 22 2005) - Constitution Referendum: Too Democratic to be American!! (Oct. 23 2005)
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Executing OUR AUN: the Palm Tree
Eman Ahmed Khammas (February 24 2005)
For Iraqis, palm trees are not just trees, they are members of the family, and they are almost sacred. Not only because they are mentioned in the Holy Qur'an many times, and in the prophet Mohammad teachings, in one of which he called upon Moslems to honor the palm tree, our aunt, as he called it, but also because palm trees are deeply connected to the economic, cultural and social Iraqi life through history.
Date palms
are everywhere in Iraq, orchards, streets, houses, on rivers sides and in the desert. It is deeply planted in
Iraqis conscience, on money, logos, military
badges, poetry, paintings. Iraqi women are always glorified by comparing them to the lofty palms. Probably the
most well known line in the modern Iraqi and Arabic poetry is Assayab's opening line in his Rain Song
"Your eyes are two date palm forests at dawn"
Palm tree orchards are now chopped, shoveled away and burnt by the American troops. In Daura, south of Baghdad, 50 dounams (a dounam is a measure of land = 1000 square meters) of planted dates and citrus trees orchards were destroyed. Hills of hundreds of trunks savagely cut and burnt, pile in the surrounding newly eroded lands.
"They destroyed Sheikh Mohi's orchard, Yosif's, Hamid's…." and the names go on, when Karim, 26, a farmer from the area began telling us what happened. The tragedy was so bad to him that he talks as if the whole world knew about it. "Beating, humiliating, throwing Igals (head cover) on the ground, they arrested Ghafil's sons, Omran's, Yosif's, Faisal's, Ayyal's, they destroyed Al-Ilwiya tomb"
Daura
was exposed to heavy bombings, fighting, raids, and arrests through out the last year. The main street which
runs for tens of kilometers beside the river is cut by huge blocks at many points. Houses demolished, fences
destroyed, and the only fuel station attacked and closed; "this is the most hurting thing " says Um Omar,
women farmer in her fifties " because we can not get fuel for the water pumps, our plants are dying, it has
been going on for 3 months, please ask them to give us water, our animals are thirsty" .
American troops were attacked from this area. "But this is illogical" insists Um Omar, "We understand that they are after fighters, but why they attack houses, terrify families, destroy fences, why do not they go after those who attack them, why do they come to families?". She has already lost 3 cows, but water is her main concern. All of the farmers complained about the cut water, including her son, Omar, 15, who explained what happened.
"It went on for a week. They (the American troops) were attacked over there" he pointed to the river side road "they chopped the palm trees, they destroyed plants which value 30.000, they exploded the electricity converter, they even put down electricity columns, we can not operate the water pumps any more, look at our house's walls , they are full of bullet holes, they arrested tens of men, my uncle and nephew are still in jail. The people who attacked them do not live here, no one attacks the American troops at his gate, surely they understand that, so why they hurt us like this"
"But how
these trunks are burnt?" an American journalist asked.
"They pile them, pour gas and set them on fire, in front of our eyes. At night they keep on firing to terrify families, they search the houses, take our personal weapons, and they blocked the roads". Omar, and many of his friends could not take the mid year exam, because his school is on the other side of the block.
Daura is a typical Iraqi rural area; anyone's business is everybody's business. Many cars stopped by asking what was going on, when they saw us talking to Omar's family, and then they drove by, too hopeless of any help possible.
But Laftah Suleiman, a blind farmer in his sixties, asked us to "tell them" to stop these hurts" three things are most forbidden in Islam: stealing, adultery and begging, we need to work to keep on living, tell them that".
Ahmed,
spent 9 months in Abu Greib and Bucca prisons, and still does not know why he was arrested or released. When
they arrested him "They humiliated me
in front of my wife and children, they dragged me, beat me, they tied me to a thorny tree, made me climb a
ladder for 4 floors with my eyes covered and my hands tied behind, and made me climb down the next day in the
same way, can you imagine how difficult this was?" Ahmed was never tired of telling his story in the prison
again and again. Deep feelings of injustice and humiliation run in his voice. He confirmed all kinds of bad
treatment and torture that detainees in the American prisons talked about in the last two years. He saw
American soldiers entering women prisoners' cells at night, and heard women shrieking afterwards. A woman
officer admitted to him and many other prisoner that she knew that 95% of the prisoners are innocent. He saw
old men dying in prison…etc.
Hamid, 51, was angrier. Members of his family were executed by the last regime, he was hopeful of "the age of freedom, if freedom is like this we do not want it". Hamid was standing in the middle of his shoveled down orchard." Palm trees are our ancestors' history and ours, killing them is like killing a member in the family".
"Did you ask for compensations?" I
asked
"Millions would not compensate this. And any way we did complain to the Iraqi authorities, but the judge closed the case, he said there is an item in the new law that prevents the Iraqis of complaining against the American troops, and what about the humiliation, the house raids, the terror. When a tank stops by your gate and starts to fire the family is terrified. They (the American) bomb from Scania ( a bus assembly factory in the past, now a military base). What is our guilt? They raided my house, beat me, pushed me to the wall, dragged me out side "tell us about the terrorists!" they kept on asking. My brother is in jail for the last 7 months, for what do you think? For having many visitors".
We went to see the road blocks. 4 huge cement blocks were deeply implanted into the road. The road looked as if an earthquake hit it. It was sharply cut "they wired the place and exploded it from the helicopter" said Hmood who lives close the block. "They asked every body to be 10 kilometers away. Our windows and doors were destroyed". Some of Hmood's trees were chopped, the fence and the orchard's gate were damaged, but he was lucky, the bulldozer was broken before they came over everything. "I do not know why they did that this time .They searched the orchard ten times before. They used to come before, search the orchard, I offered them oranges, and they were friendlier in the past. Actually one of the soldiers was arguing with them not to destroy the orchard, they used bad words against him. He offered me $20 to rebuild the fence. I thanked him but refused to take the money". Parts of the shovel treads were still inserted in the ground.
While we were talking to Hmood, mini
buses brought families and old men, dropped them near the block and turned back. They crossed the block to
wait on the other side for any car that would pass by and take them ahead deep into the palm orchards where
they lived. Many times when Hmood was talking about blocking the road, he used the word Israelis instead of
American troops
Iraqi Families Looking for their Sons in the American Secret Prisons
E.A.Khamas
One of the major problems that the Iraqi families are going through after two years of occupation, a problem that is rarely mentioned in the media, if at all, is the case of people who disappeared during the 2003 American invasion, or after that during the occupation, whom the American authorities refuse to give any information about because they are considered dangerous, or those who are called security inmates in the American controlled prisons.
All the national and international NGOs who work(ed) in Iraq are very familiar with a reply that they always get from the American military bases or information centers, when they ask about a detainee who was arrested or disappeared in the period March 20-May 1st, 2003:
"No information about whoever was arrested before May 1st 2003", no compensations, no complains heard, nothing. On May 1st 2003, President Bush announced the end of the military operations in Iraq. It is also impossible to know any thing about those who are called security inmates, because they are the responsibility of the American Army (according to Chuck Ryan, the American officer who was responsible of the Iraq prisons late in 2003)
The disappeared may be military men, fedayeen (one who sacrifices himself for his country), or civilians who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, although all Iraq was a (wrong place) during the invasion!! But according to the International law*, even those who were involved in the military operations, and their families, have their human rights, whether they are arrested, disappeared, wounded or killed. For two years, these families have been victims of blackmail, anxiety, suspicions, and continuous relentless search in the American information centers, HR organizations, Iraqi ministries…etc, looking for any glimpse of hope to know anything about their loved ones. One mother, was so desperate, that when heard that a friend of her son dreamt that her son is buried some where. She went to that place, dug the graves …and of course found no thing.
We just want to know
Talking to these families is diving in a sea of tears of the mothers, wives, and children. "We just want to know. They (the American) can keep our sons as long as they want, but just tell us if they are alive, and where they are" a sentence you hear from almost every body who is looking for a missing loved one.
"I would give anything, everything I own to any one who tells me about Rafid", says Ghazza A. Jamil, Um Rafid, a middle aged mother of Rafid, a young man lost on April 7, 2003.
Rafid, 19 years, left to his grand father's house at 8.20 in the morning, after the curfew was lifted, he had to cross the Suspended Bridge which leads to the Republican Palace (the Green Zone now). An hour later his family heard that the Palace was raided, so his father ran to the bridge looking for him. He could not go through because of the heavy bombing. He saw many vehicles burning on the bridge "let's pray that Rafid did not go on the Bridge" he told the mother. Next day he took a blanket (just in case he found Rafid's body) and went on foot, asked an American woman officer to let him look for his son. She did. He searched all the bodies on the ground, in the cars and buses that were destroyed or burned on the bridge, the streets, the squares on the other side, but there was no trace of Rafid. They looked for days in the hospitals, the cold boxes, the graves, the mortgage, the police offices, the American bases, the CIMCS (Civilian Information Military Centers), and the prisons. Now they had files in all the human rights organizations, the HR Ministry, ICRC, the Red Crescent…etc. They put an announcement in the newspapers and in TV, but no trace of Rafid.
On November 2003, the lawyer who was helping told them that he found Rafid's name, that he was arrested in the airport and that he was transported to Camp Bucca in May 16, 2003. When the father went down to that prison he was told that Rafid's name was not there.
The lawyer told them that he got the information from Major Coleman in the Iraqi Assistance Center. They went to see Coleman, who looked in the computer lists, found the name and told them to come back in a week. They did, but this time he sent them away again saying that he was going to call them back. He did not, but they went back again all the same, he told them that Rafid's name is not there.
A released prisoner from Abu Greib told the family that Rafid was with him until February 2004. (Many prisoners told us that they were transported from Bucca to Abu Greib and back at the beginning of 2004).
Another witness is a woman, a neighbor, who thinks that she saw Rafid, in Kut police station. She said that his hands were tied and that he tried to talk to her silently, he even tried to throw his body on her many times, but the American soldier beat him. Another witness, a prisoner, told the family that Rafid is arrested in a cellar and that there are strict American guards on that prison. He said that Rafid is injured in his leg. In one of the American Information Centers in Baghdad (Jadriya), the mother was told that may be Rafid was a fedayeen," I told them that he was not, and even if he was, does this mean that the fedayeen are not going to be released", they said yes.
What was he accused of according to the lawyer? We asked
"Of not holding personal documents"
Um Rafid was very keen on sending a message. We told her that this is not TV, but she insisted that any one who reads this story please help in looking for Rafid, and also two other young men, one is called Firas Sámi Gatti'e,b.1982, who sent a message to his mother on a cigarette box, and Seif, who sent a message on his short. Rafid's mother never stopped crying bitterly during the interview. Actually she is on the verge of a break down" I talk to street pavement, ask it did Rafid walk here? Please help me, his father is dying"
Abdul Qadir was only doing his job!!
Abdul Qadir Mohsin Mehdi, b.1948, is a chief engineer in Ministry of Oil. On April 7, 2003 he left to work early in the morning, he was told to distribute fuel on the Baghdad stations. He never returned back. Eye witnesses said that he went to Daura refinery that morning and left around noon to Shalchiya station near Buratha mosque. There was heavy bombing so he left the car and hide in the nearest fuel station with two other men, an employee in the station and another man who was caught in the bombing. Ten minutes later the two men left. According to the other man, Abdul Qadir was shot and carried away by two American soldiers in an armored vehicle.
The family looked every where, asked all the relevant ministries and organizations. Ministries of Oil, Justice, and HR asked the American authorities about him, but got the same reply, no information about the missing in April 2003.
"If he is dead, we want his body. If he is alive, we want to know, that is all" his wife says." Last Christmas a priest was talking on the BBC, he said we are celebrating while there is many prisoners in Iraq whose families do not know about them". We do not know the number; it is some where between 5 and 15 thousands. There is much talk about mass grave for the dead, these prisoners are buried in life, and these prisons are mass graves for the living. We had to wait for 23 years to find the bones in Saddam's mass graves. We do not want to wait so long to find the new mass graves. We want the bones now!! We are believers, we know that every one is going to die, but we need to know. He had nothing to do with politics, never joined a party, never had a pistol, he was only doing his job"
An eye witness saw Abdul Qadir in Bucca camp, tent 9, camp 9. There were 650 prisoners in that tent. The man told her until July 2003 they were in the airport prison and that until March 2004 her husband was ok". The family asked in Bucca camp but got no positive reply.
The family formed a team of relatives to look for Abdul Qadir. They looked every where in Baghdad for two weeks after his disappearance. They searched in the hospitals, new graves which were dug on the streets sides at that time. His son Seif, a student of computer technology talks about hills of men, women and children bodies he had to look in, they were accumulated in the hospitals gardens.
The wife went to see Nebil Khoori, a representative of the American State Department in October 2003, after he was on TV receiving people's calls. In Khoori's office she gave all the information, and they promised to call her, with many other families. They never did till this minute. The wife says there are at least 6000 missing even some fedayeen are released, why do not they release him?
Abdul Qadir's wife finds that all other problems are not priority: water, electricity, government …all could be done, but for a family who is waiting for news from a father or a son, this is the priority.
Adel Has a Number, and a Ducument
Adel Abbass Lieby, 30, was an administrative army officer. On April 3, 2003 he was delivering salaries for a military unit in Yosifiya. He was shot on the way by the American troops and was injured. His friend Hasan saw him. He was taken to Yarmook Hospital. Hassan got all Adel's papers and documents and gave them to his family when he went to tell them about Adel. Then Adel disappeared. "I asked in a police station, the American officer told me to come in few days. I went back after 3 days; he told me that my son is in the airport prison"
We knew a translator in the airport, we asked him about Adel, after few days he said that he saw him near Ammash daughter (Huda Ammash), and that he was injured, he was sleeping on a hospital bed, with many medical tubes attached to his body. Another person called and said he saw Adel, who gave him our number to call.
A young man called Ala'a came to our house and asked for 10 million dinars to release Adel. He said that Adel was accused of being of in Saddam's Mukhabarat (intelligence). But my son in law believed that Ala'a was a swindler. In the end a doctor in the Red Cross asked for 3 million dinars, and gave us a document from the American troops saying that they found Adel, he has the number 905853. He told us about his exact address in Bucca prison and urged us to demand Adel's release because he was innocent".
But no matter how many they go there, they get no positive reply. Once the mother was threatened by an American soldier to arrest her and put the black sac on her head if she does not go away. He said that his mother has not seen him for 6 months too. Again the family sought help in all the ministries and HR organizations. "I want to see my son, that's all" his old mother said, crying "his daughter and wife want to see him"
Dhia's Car Deserted
Dhia Mahdi Ali Baqir Al-Sindy, b.1945, was a retired brigadier general in the Iraqi Army, the veterans' office. On April 7, 2003, he was driving his car near the airport highway, asking about his son in Al-Aamil district, he never returned back. He left after 8.00 am, when the curfew was lifted. The family could not reach the airport highway area because it was closed by the Americans for 10 days. On April 18 the family began the search. They found his car; it looked like Dhia deserted it because of the heavy bombing. People in the neighborhood said that they found the car empty. The family did not find any of the documents that were in it. A young man from the area who buried the dead said that all the injured were taken by the American helicopters from the scene. The family dug in the airport high way side, for a kilometer. They found hundreds of men and some women's bodies, they even found a bus full of bodies buried on the airport high way side.
"Are you talking about a mass grave?" we asked Dhia's wife.
"Yes, a coaster full of bodies buried on the side road, and there were many temporary graves with signs on or near, like a tree branch or a piece of cloth. But the people, who buried these bodies, were very keen on collecting details of the dead, so that they are easily recognized later. They did not see Dhia"
" I kept on looking every where, the military bases, the police stations, the prisons, until Sheikh M. from the Independent Tribal Sheikhs Association , told me that they found his name but did not tell me where he is. In February 2004, a POW lieutenant Leith Abdul Majeed, 30, said that he was arrested in an American military base in Qatar, and that high ranking officers were arrested in Kuwait. Both were gathered in Bucca in November 2004, presumably to be released, Leith was released, but then the Falloja attack began and everything was stopped.
A prisoner said that Dhia is in Bucca, that he was wounded in his abdomen that he is well now, he described Dhia very precisely and gave the family detailed information about him, that no one else would know. "We were even given a number, 116224, but when we checked it was not him".
"What I want to say" his wife, a retired employee in the Planning Ministry, explains " his body was not found, he is arrested by the American, because many eyewitnesses said that the injured were taken by helicopters, I demand that the American authorities give us his number, and if there is any charge against him, we are ready for any legal procedure, if he is proved to be guilty of any charge he can be sentenced, but if he is innocent, he should be released immediately".
Yassir Has Many Eyewitnesses
"Yassir is my nephew", said Abu Amjad, "one of the old detainees, he was arrested at the beginning of the occupation more than two years ago. Till now we do not have any information about him or where he is. The only information we have is which we get from ex-prisoners, those who have been released, we went every where, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the American military bases, the Iraqi bodies…we did not get any reply or official information".
How many times we heard this sentence?!! Almost all of the missing families say it.
Yassir, b.1975, was arrested in Radhwaniya south of Baghdad, near a detergents factory; he was driving with his friend, Salah, to Salah's house on April 4, 2003, when they got near an American group who shot them. Eye witnesses from the area said that Yassir was injured in his left arm and leg, while Salah was injured in his head and arm. Both were given first aid by the American troops and taken in an armored vehicle. Salah said that they were taken by a helicopter to a military base, which could be in Yosfiya. Salah lost conscious for 12 days. When he recovered he found himself in a military hospital in Nassiriya, in a military base called Al-Imam base, south of Iraq. He asked about his friend Yassir immediately, but got no reply. From that moment till now, there is no official news about Yassir.
"A young man called Khamis Sámi came to visit us, he was arrested with Yassir in Bucca, and he confirmed that Yassir is there. But when we went there the American authorities denied. There were many families, around thousand, asking about their sons there. In June 2003 they put a list of 30 prisoners. They said that these prisoners are in Bucca and their families can visit them. Among the names was Aisar Abbass Hneihin, an officer in the Republican Guard. But father is still looking for him till now.
We kept on looking for Yassir for the last two years in almost all the American military bases and information centers. At many times the families were given information, like the family of Jasim Hussein Sultan Al-Abidy, but then they were denied.
Last year a man called Abdul Sattar Abdul Jabbar came from Basra, he came to visit us saying that he has a message from Yassir. This man said they were arrested in the airport prison for two months after the occupation, and then they were taken to Qatar where they remained until the beginning of 2004. After that they were brought to Iraq again, and kept in a prison near Basra. Many prisoners talk about a prison near Basra but not the Bucca camp. It is some where an hour away from Basra, probably on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti borders where 3-4 thousands of Iraqi prisoners are supposed to be kept. Some of them were of the Special Guards, the Republican Guards, fedayeen and civilians from all over Iraq. His eyes were covered, but he knew that the camp was called The POW Closed Camp no. 4, the Qatar group, and he said that Yassir is in this camp and he has the number of 113453. When we look in the detainees list we do not find this number. By the way, regarding the serial numbers, there few thousands missing which are the numbers beginning from 111000-115000, you do not find them in the lists. I think these are the secret numbers, because where ever we look we do not find them.
Many of the messengers from prisons hesitate to give full information about themselves, or their addresses. They give very detailed information about the prisoners from whom they get the message, which leaves no doubt that they were with him. Obviously, they are told not to give any information, but they feel that they should help the families
*see Protocol Additional to Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (Protocol1, Article 33)
Detainees in captive country-I
Testimonies of Iraqi Prisoners In the American Prisons
(May 30 2005 (Name of the Author withheld for security reasons
Bassim Suggested Finger Prints
On July 16, 2003, at 10.30 am, Bassim Dawood Darob, left his house in Tadgi, near an American military base north of Baghdad, to go to work in the village market, when he saw an American convoy. He was not afraid or even worried. He kept on walking until he reached them, they asked him to lift his shirt, turn around, and put his hands up. He did. They searched his body even his foot fingers. Then they told him to sit down. Three cars passed by, they searched and let them go. Then they cuffed his hands and put him in their vehicle. When he asked why, a soldier told him to ask the officer. The officer said "you were trying to hit the military base towers".
"But I am unarmed?" Bassim said, the officer did not reply.
Bassim
spent the next 19 months in many American prisons in Iraq. He talks about the absurdities, the bad treatment,
and the humiliation he saw in prison. He was released many times, but was never out of prison. He spent days,
his eyes tied, hands cuffed, without even knowing why. A woman soldier called Tane or Tain who investigated
him told him that he hit the American vehicle, when he asked her about the weapon she told him that they found
it. Bassim was so confident of his innocence that he suggested a finger print examination. Unsurprisingly, the
result was positive. Bassim sarcastically told Tane that "either the computer was lying or you". She went mad
and started shouting, but Bassim was put in the release room all the same.
But for some unknown reason, he was sent to Tikrit military camp. His hands were bleeding of the tight cuffs; he was sleeping on big hot pebbles, no food, no water…etc. When he heard his name, he realized that at last he is going to be free.
He was sent to the airport prison, camp C, again water was a dream, for drinking and washing, and of course in July the temperature reaches 55 centigrade in the shade. "But the worst thing was the Iraqi guards who were so obscene and dirty, ex criminals", Bassim remembers. Then he was sent to Nassiriya, on his way to Basra, where he was put in Camp Bucca for 4 months.
"The food so bad that you feel sick just smelling it, not eating it.
It was hot inside the plastic tents, through which the burning desert
sun was piercing. Out side the tent the sand storms were impossible.
We had two meals a day, bathroom twice. But we were 600 having
bath in half an hour. Four months later, they told me that I was going
to be released. On that day, they said sorry and returned me back
because there was no car, I said I can go to Baghdad on foot
(500 kilometers), but that was useless.
There was no investigation, nothing in Bucca, just waiting, and taking collective punishments. But Abu Greib Prison was worse. Fox and Casey were the meanest.
Who are they?
A woman and a man soldier. For them we are simply criminals. The food was miserable, but we ate it. Once they brought chicken, I could not believe my eyes. But when I began to eat, I realized that there were worms in it, I ate it, none the less. The first and easiest punishment was cutting the food, water, and leaving the toilet without cleaning for two weeks. It was horrible. There was one tab for 600prisoners. Diarrhea was normal; there were queues on the doctor's door..
On Dec14, 2003, Bassim was told that he was going to be released again, he did not believe it. He was sent to Bucca again. He had his first visit from his family on April15, 2004, 10 months after his arrest. Bassim was not tortured, but he witnessed many prisoners who were. A woman soldier peed on a religious man's beard, and raped him. He remained silent afterwards, not talking to any prisoner. Searching was very humiliating. They ask the prisoners to take off all their clothes, then they ask the prisoners to prostrate (as in prayer) and they search inside their buttocks. The prisoners went on demonstration protesting this search, so they were allowed to keep the shorts but to pull it up very tightly so that the organs would show.
On July 2004, Bassim got another release, on bail this time. The problem was how to tell his family. He was given new clothes, and even asked to shave in order to go out, but he had to wait until December to finish all the papers.
Did you hear about any women prisoners?
"I saw them. One was very old. She was arrested because they
wanted her son who was a military officer. She was crying all the
time. We organized a demonstration for her, they promised to
release her. But when we were taken to the airport prison, we
saw her there. There were about 15 women in the airport. We
saw them when they were taken to investigation. Their guards were men, but for men prisoners, the guards were women, I think this is deliberate. They know that we are from a conservative society; many women soldiers do the sexual abuses or humiliate men prisoners like putting their boots on the prisoners' heads".
What were you charged of?
"of attacking a military convoy, but to charge somebody of committing something was not taken seriously. Many prisoners had no charges; anything could be put in the papers in the appeal. I have seen many of such cases"
How do you feel now, after spending 19 months in prison for nothing?
I do not know, I can not express my bitter feelings. Many things have changed. There are many new prisons, full of innocent people. They say that the number is 9-10 thousands in all the prisons. I can assure you that they are 90-100 thousands.
Are not you afraid?
No, I am innocent.
Huda Al-Azawi Was a Victim of Blackmail
Huda, 43, is in jail now for the third time, her story is well known, not only inside Iraq. It is a big tragedy of a whole family. Huda's brother Iyad was killed under torture in Adhamiya American military base in December 2003, his body was found in Baghdad morgue 3 months later among the unidentified. Her sister Nahla was arrested with her in December 2003 for eight months. Her Brother Ali is still in Bucca Camp for a year and a half now. Her nephew, Mohammad is arrested with her now, and is in Abo Greib. Her other brother, Mo'taz, was released after 15 months in Bucca. Their problem is that they are wealthy family. They refused to be blackmailed.
Huda is a business woman. She is a contractor. According to her daughter Farah, 23, a collaborator asked her to pay him $20.000, she refused, so he gave the American bad information about her, and she was arrested in December 2003. After 8 months of torture, too bad treatment, beating (when she was released her right arm was broken), in Abo Greib , the American general apologized to her, saying that he was sorry, that her file is clean, that investigations proved that she is innocent of the charge of funding the resistance, and that she was a victim of bad information.
"She was another woman when she was released last July" Farah says. This time her house was raided by the Iraqi National Guards and the American troops together on February 17, 2005 at 2.30 am. The house was hit by sound bombs, tear gas, the doors, windows and furniture were broken. All the personal and business documents, the computers, the money, the jewelry, and the car were all confiscated. The chairs were still covered with small pieces of glass when we visited her house. The younger daughter, Noor, 14, was slapped on her face many times by one of the INGs because she was crying when they tried to separate her from her sister, Farah. They used very bad words against them.
"But all this is not a problem", Farah insists "the problem is that my mother was ill when she was arrested in February, she just had an operation in her armpit, the stitches were not removed yet. They tied her arms to her back very tightly, she was crying, they tied her feet too, and hooded her. Her medicines were not taken with her
.
"After she was arrested I looked for her every were, I had no clue
where she was, until my cousin who was arrested in the same night was moved from the
airport to Abo Greib, and we visited him, told us that she is kept in a solitary confinement in the airport"
When were in Huda's house interviewing Farah, the Red Cross called from Amman saying that her mother sent the first letter since she was arrested 2 months ago. There was a deep feeling of resignation in the letter. Huda says that this is her fate, she asks her daughters to take care of them selves and to be brave, to try to help her. She says that she is very tired and does not feel well, but she does not need clothes or food, that she is in the airport, given the same number as in the first arrest.
How was she arrested first in 2003?
-She went to the American base herself. After they came to our house many times, asking questions, she decided to go and meet the American commander himself. They arrested her there, never released until 8 months later, psychologically destroyed. We did not know about her until 6 months later.
Huda's lawyer told us not to talk about her torture in Abu Greib in front of Farah and Noor, because she did not tell her daughters anything of that. There were 14 women with her. Their hands and legs were tied, heads hooded, they were put in solitary tight rooms. They were ordered to do the cleaning. But the most sever experience for Huda in jail was when her brother Iyad's dead body was thrown on her. He was naked , covered with bruises.
Abu Hind never imagined that he was a suspect
Abu Hind , is a middle aged widower who was arrested twice for short periods, again not knowing why. But he never imagined that he was going to be arrested simply because he is paralyzed and moves on a wheel chair for 24 years now. He was injured in 1981 in the Iraqi-Iranian war. He lives with his two teenage daughters in a village north of Baghdad.
The first time he was arrested he was fasting, coming back from the market with his young daughter, he found his house raided and surrounded by hummers and tens of soldiers. They accused him of attacking a military convoy. He was released after three days because his health deteriorated; he also suffers from kidney problems and bed ulcer.
The second time was a month later. He was arrested in the green zone, this time he was beaten and tortured. They asked him about weapons they found near the river. They kicked him on his face and his mouth was torn and bleeding. They poured cold water on his naked body in winter. After six days of torture he collapsed. When they released him he was dying. They threw him in a car station.
But why do you think they came for you?
-I think because of my look, you know with the beard. They actually said so. They asked me about the terrorists. I told them that
since I was injured in the war, it was difficult for me to keep neat. In fact they arrested many people with me, but they released me because I was dying. What I do not understand is why they raid the houses so violently, they did not need that. They were pointing their guns at me, and I am helpless, I can not even put on my clothes without help.
To Be Continued…
Detainees in the Captive Country-II
Testimonies of Iraqi Prisoners In the American Prisons
Mothers and Wives
In a three day protest that was organized by the Islamic Party, hundreds of families, mainly from Baghdad, holding pictures, documents, banners, signs, very sad stories, unanswered questions, and much tears. It was shortly after the Abu Greib prison attack last March. Visits were not allowed in the two major prisons of Abu Greib and Bucca. But many prisoners had no visits at all.
Mohamad Naif Arrak, a 17 year old boy was arrested on February 2, 2005 while he was going to school in the morning. He was crossing the highway with many other people when a military convoy was attacked. They were arrested collectively.
His mother goes to Abu Greib every day asking for him. She never gets an answer. The families who were asking for their loved ones were hit with tear gas by the prison guards.
"I just want to know how he is, I am dying every day hundreds of times just to think that my child is in this savage prison. He is just a high school student. His father is dying, please help me"
Shatha has 4 persons arrested in her family, her husband, two of his brothers and a nephew. Two of them are teenagers. They were arrested inside their house in Daura, when the whole area was raided and searched last January. The family did not hear of them since then.
Soheib Mohamad Amin, 49, a father of five children, is in jail for almost two years now. His wife could not see him since last March. She does not know why he was arrested because they did not find any thing when they raided the whole area and searched the house. The family has no financial income since then. But this is not what worries the wife:
"His health is not good" she said, crying bitterly. "He did not say that, because he does not want us to worry about him. But I can see that he is not ok, when they took him he was walking on his legs, when I saw him in prison he was carried by others. His leg was wrapped, I asked him why that was, he did not reply. But he could not walk. I want to know how he is now; I want him to be out. His children are not doing well in school. They need him. I need him. I am very tired and collapsed. Even if he is crippled, or disabled I want him back, for the sake of his family"
Jamal and Son
Jamal Bedri is ill, he suffers from a brain bleeding. He had an operation but he became epileptic since then. His son, a student in College of Sience, Khalid is also ill, he has salts in his kidneys. Both of them need continuous treatment. Both are in Bucca for 6 months. There are no visits.
What were they accused of?
We do not know, the soldiers said there is bad information about them. They searched the house and did not find anything, not even an empty bullet "I am very worried about them, the wife and mother says, I just need to know how they are, if they are given their medicines or not".
Mohammad: The American took my father
Tahir Abdul Amir, was driving with a friend in Kadhimiya when an American convoy was attacked. All the men in the area were arrested in November 17, 2004. The family searched every where, but there was no trace of him. A curious email was sent to the family saying that Tahir is alive and is arrested in the airport. But they did not get any news about him, or even the car. No number, nothing. His son knows that the American took his father. "I do not know anything else, I want to see my father" says Mohammad Tahir's son, 5 years old.
Abu Ahmad Is Afraid of Arrest Again
Abu
Ahmad, who spent the last two years in different American prisons in Iraq refused to uncover his face or to
give his real name, "If you see what I saw in the American prisons you would do the same"
What did you see?
"I saw soldiers having fun torturing the Iraqi prisoners, I saw thousands
of innocent people kept in jail for reasons they do not know, I saw very
old people in prison, one of them was born in 1919, I saw 10 year old children, I saw women, one of them was 23, forced to go around in prison in front of every body in her underwear, all her crime was that her husband was an officer. I saw solitary confinement; I saw psychological torture, humiliation, deception, bad treatment, and bad conditions for two years. Once we found a lizard in the sauce. I do not want to go back there…
Abu Ahmad was arrested in the street with many other people. He had plenty of money with him. He is a car merchant. His money was confiscated, and his car, and were never returned back. His hands were tied and his head covered. He did not know his charge, until he was given a charge of bombed car. He spent months in the airport prison, Bucca camp, but he thinks that Abu Greib was the worst.
In Bucca the whether was difficult, the heat, the plastic tents, the bad food, the few cigarettes, the sand storms…A sign was written on the tents saying Welcome to the Zoo. They protested against it and it was removed. Their guards were called Creamy, Jacson, and Martina (according to his pronunciation). One of the prisoners had psoriasis, his skin ulcerated and he was bleeding. "We went on hunger strike to make the prison authorities take him to hospital. A female major saw him and ordered that he was to be sent to hospital. We wrapped him in a blanket and he was taken in a pickup, supposedly to the hospital. We realized later that he was put in what we called the silent tent, which was a solitary tent".
In Bucca there were 10 camps, Abu Ahmad says, "In each camp there are 20-25 tents, in each tent there is an average of 25 prisoners. The translator, an old Egyptian man called Abu Nasser, was a spokesman of the major. He was a big lire".
But the real agony was Abu Greib. After the finger and retina prints, the prisoners were given numbers, and sent to cages, which they call Gancies (according to the pronunciation). There were eight of them, in each one there were 20-25 tents. The conditions were very bad, cold and damp in winter. Little water in summer, bad food, that many prisoners had dysentery. The water was very bad. Once the prisoners asked the guard to drink from their impure water, he refused. The food was rotten, "smelling bad that even animals would not eat". The boiled eggs were blue. (No food) was a regular collective punishment. Many prisoners had no visitors at all.
- all those who were charged with jihad were
tortured, even if it was not true.I saw one of them, he was very old
forced to put on a red women underwear nothing else, and to go around in front of
all the prisoners. Another one was forced to sleep with a woman guard, he refused, he was tortured until he did sleep with her, then
she raped him with a special kind of belt that she put on and became like a man.. When he was returned to he was still bleeding. Another
one was called Alla' Dambi, he had one finger in his right hand. His sisters were arrested too. They were screaming and calling him for help
because they were raped. The female guards put their boots on men's heads, the soldiers would touch the dog, but would not touch an Iraqi
prisoner, they had to put on gloves. Prisoners were hanged from their hands which were tied to the back, dogs bit them. Many of them admitted things that they did not do. There was
a special kind of confinement, it is called the safe. There was no opening in it like a safe.
I saw Mohammad, he was10 years, was crying all the time. In Eid Alfitr 2003( Fast breaking feast,
after Ramadan), there was a demonstration for releasing the innocent
prisoners. It was shot by plastic and real bullets. 13 prisoners were killed, the wounded were taken to the hospital, but never returned back. Prisoners who came from other prisons, like Al-Baghdadi, or the Disco prison talk about sever torture…
What are these?
-Al-Baghdadi is the Qadissiya air base in the past, now it is an American
military base. The Disco prison is a prison in Mosul where prisoners were
tortured by too high music, to which they were forced to dance. But after the Abu Greib scandal the Gancies began to be emptied and the prisoners were sent to Bucca.
When Abu Ahmad was arrested, he was told that he was going to be asked few questions and released immediately. He was never charged. A lawyer called Hussein the Lebanese, would routinely come every six months for an appeal
This is good, isn't it?-
It would be if there is a charge. But if there is no charge what to appeal !
One of the prisoners insisted that he gets an appeal paper, so that he could
know his charge. Hussein the Lebanese gave him any paper; the prisoner found that the name and the number are not his, Hussein told him to wipe them and put his own. Another prisoner who had a PHD, was asking about his charge, the guard asked him what do you want it to be? He said "a thief" sarcastically, and that what it was. Some prisoners do not get an appeal paper for a year. After Abu Greib scandal, it became every three months…
…
In the New Iraq: The Democratic Example
SOS from Baladroose- First Example
This is a call for help from a town called Baladroose , north east of Baghdad.
In the Name of God the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious
A call for help from the people of Baladroose/Diyala: SOS
Ahl Assunna WA Ajjama'a in Baladroose and the surrounding villages are suffering from a campaign of arrests on identity, lead by police colonel Ali Ismael, well known as Ali Cable*, and his brother fedral police Major Walid Cable*.
These arrests included even the mosques sheikhs, among them sheikh Younis of Fajr Al-Islam mosque, sheikh Nafi' Ali Hussein, of Dahlakiya mosque, and sheikh Hamdan of Somood mosque.
Last Wednsday, sheikh Aqeel Ali Khalil,of Al-Mustapha mosque, was found dead with two bullets in his head, after he was kidnapped 10 days ago.
Detainees who were arrested inside the mosques are more than hundred. Those who were released talk about torture practices. Some of them his shoulders were wrenched, their fingers cut, some were raped, some disappeared, one of them died under torture, his name is Othman. Some were released after paying 6 million ID to an agent of Ali Cable, during the arrests all precious things were stolen from the houses, jewelry, and money. In Al-Fatimiya village, all the men in one house were arrested, money stolen, even sheep. The women went back to their parents; the houses now are empty and deserted.
Mosques are almost empty of prayers; even Friday prayers are not held.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
*the Cable is a symbol of torture because it is used in whipping
2- Testimony: Curious Case, Releasing a Convict of Terrorism !!
(All details of names, dates, profession, places ...are not mentioned. The witness is very keen on giving his testimony, but he is afraid that if he reveals his identity, another charge would be fabricated against him and he would be arrested and exposed to torture again)
Abo Amr is a father of many children. One night his house was raided, the door was destroyed and tens of INGs occupied the house:
-Are you …?
-No, my name is …
-You are lying, you are all liars…
They began beating and calling bad words in front of the family. His hands were tied, head hooded, many belongings were taken: a licensed personal weapon, electric kitchen tools, like a juicer, even a plate of sweets among many other things. He was taken to the first investigation point. He thought that he is going to be released in two days at most. The room was about 15 square meters. There were 35-40 detainees in. It was cold, but the room was so crowded that the prisoners were happy with the breath of air. Some people were lying, some covered with blood, one with a broken arm…etc. Many were standing. Abo Amr could not sleep; he found a crack between the bricks, he stood beside to get some fresh air. Next afternoon, he was called for investigation.
He was taken eyes and hands tied. When he asked where to sit he was beaten.
He was asked to talk about a number of names, which he did not know. They told him that they found the names in his notebook. When he denied, He was beaten again. One of the police men asked the officer what would you like for dinner: Quozi, Biriani or Masgoof? (Names of typical Iraqi dishes)
Qouzi, the officer said. It turned out the names are of different types of
torture. The Qouzi is tying the hands to the feet, and then inserting an iron stick between them and hanging
the prisoner up side down by that stick (see a statue of the torture)
It was so painful; they would hit me with electric and ordinary sticks. My hands and legs were swelling. Two hours later they threw me back in the room.
-Did you sign? The prisoners asked
-Sign what? I asked. They exchanged glances.
The next afternoon, they asked me about bombed cars. They hanged me like a Qouzi again, putting off their cigarettes in my legs this time. Electrified me, I begged them to put me down. He said you are a Sunni. I said I do not mind, we are not enemies, I wished he would shoot me. The forth day I told him I will admit any thing, just do not hang me, killing, stealing, hurting people, anything…He said explosives. I told him that I do not know anything about them, He hit me on my face, I leaned down, a policeman behind me hit me by an iron stick on my back, they went on this way, until I fainted .
A new voice, asked them to give me some water, he offered me a cigarette. I could not hold it. He said " we know that you did not do anything of these acts, you are here as a witness. Just sign on these papers and you go" That was the happiest moment in my life. He made me put my fingerprints on six papers. I could not read because my eyes were still covered. When I returned back, the prisoners congratulated me. I realized that a prisoner was tortured the same way , but with inserting an iron stick in his buttocks . He was bleeding all the time
.
.
;Abo Amr was waiting with the others. 43 more people were put in the same room. Some of them more than 63 years, another had heart problems. Few days later they called him again. They removed the tie of his eyes and said "you are good
they introduced me to a man and said that he is responsible for human rights. They told me to repeat my testimony in front of him, tell him about the sheikhs who were supposed to be terrorists and he would help me go home. I did. He was sitting to a computer. He asked me to look at him and talk. The others were standing behind him, facing me, helping me remember what they wanted me to say. I realized later that they were interviewing me for TV I said what they told me to say.
I was going back when an explosion happened near the prison, one of the policemen brought a leg of a victim and said this is the end of the terrorists and those who help them like you, and he kicked me on my right side. I felt his boot inside my body, and fainted. An hour later my chest was blue, swelling, and I could not breathe. 3 days later, I was moved to another prison, the interior ministry intelligence.
The investigation officer told Abu Amr that he confessed of manufacturing bombed cars equipment.
"I told him I do not know, I was tortured and made sign these papers", one of the policemen hit me hard on my chest, I fainted. There were 150 prisoners, 3 doctors among them. One of the doctors examined me and told me that two ribs were broken. He used a bed sheet to wrap me. They told me about the 7th floor, which used to be the office of the Interior Minister in the last regime, now it is the investigation floor: Torture. There, prisoners died under torture, one his pelvis was broken, many were raped, beaten by iron sticks…etc. One of them, Rasool, his wife was raped in front of him. A doctor's fingers were pulled out by pincers. A teenager lost his mind. He said he had the world map on his back. It was covered with traces of whipping 9 months ago. Another one had a deep wound in his arm; he was tied for weeks, until his arm was rotten and got worms. A week before I was sent here, the 7th floor was emptied of men, only women are left there. They said that there were 20 of them. They were used to put pressure on their husbands. One of them had a child of 4 with her.. I began to smell very bad; I realized that my armpit was bleeding. The flesh was rotten and open. I was called at night and beaten. Next day I was called to court. I was shackled hands and legs. The judge asked me what have you done? I said "you know, I do not". I told him the truth. The torture, the beating, the confessions, the finger prints, everything, I showed him the traces on my body. An American officer entered the room and was listening.
Two months later Abo Amr was moved again to a new prison, the notorious fifth section, in Kadhimiya. It is a well known prison from the last regime, where political prisoners were kept. It is called now the "special section", and it is supposed to be controlled by the Iraqi special police, but according to Abo Amr, it is controlled by the American. Here he was kept in a 2 by 2 meters cell, with other two prisoners. The cell has no window, no toilet, and no water. They had to pee in a bottle, and put their human waste in a sac. Beating and humiliation was a routine. They would spray pepper in the cell making the eyes hurt for three days. Some of the prisoners were kept there for 15 months. No lawyers, no visits, no contact with anybody. Two months later, Abo Amr was called to the judge again, who told him that no evidence was found to prove that he was guilty." I was not happy, I wondered what about my rights!!, what about the people that I confessed against!! I realized that the mosques sheikhs get different torture, concentrating on sexual torture in addition to the bodily one. I had to pay one million ID to be free" .
Since his release Abo Amr is on the run, he is afraid if he goes home he would be arrested again. His house was raided again by the American troops. A message was left , saying in Arabic, and in English:" We apologize for the damage to your home. We received a bad tip. You may recover your property and collect financial payment for property at Falcon (Scania). Please go to India gate to collect your property and money" the letter was signed by Let. Follinsbee. Abo Amr thinks that this is a trap.
3-The Secret
Abo Amr did not know that we have already interviewed the sheikh against whom he confessed, Sheikh N, who is on the run for months, is in his sixties, he says:
"After the occupation and the disappointment when it was obvious that it was not liberation at all, I found that my duty as an Imam is to tell the truth, which the occupiers did not like. They contacted me; an officer called Williams came with other 4 officers to see me and to ask me what I wanted. They offered me a job of the local council and some contracts. I told them that this is not my job, and that what I want them to do is to stop humiliating the Iraqis, not to put the sacs on their heads during arrests, not to put boots on their heads, or to throw them to the ground…etc. They agreed and asked: If we do these things are you going to stop criticizing us in your speeches, I said: no, my duty is to say the truth, and the truth is bitter.
I began to receive letters, the mosques was raided many times. The last letter they offered me a job of a leader of the Karkh area. I realized that it is a trap. The raids became more, twice a day. During the Friday prayer, the tanks surround the mosque, the same during Ramadan. The soldiers told the prayers that they are going to kill me. I received many threats from Iraqis too. I used to read them in the mosque and show them to the people, and reply.
On the day of the elections, they raided the mosque again; the mowathin (who calls to prayer), the guard and some people were there. There were no weapons in the mosque, only three authorized guns. They asked the mowathin to accompany them up the minaret to search. When they came down, there were two missiles in the mosque. I swear by the name of God, by all his great names, by the Holy Book, that the mosque was clean of any weapons. It was a plot well arranged in the dark. They arrested the mowathin, the guard and one of the praying, and they left a message that I can find them in the American headquarter, that I have to go there, for them to be released.
My house was raided next, 2 airplanes, 4 armored vehicles, 6-7 cars of INGs, lighting bombs, soldiers jumping of the fences, doors broken, bullets shot, shouting, holding guns against sleeping women and children…they even killed my dog. My little daughter, Sara, is still suffering from the shock, she goes hysterical when ever she sees or hears about them.
All the family left the house now, it is deserted. They are after me so violently, they ask all my friends and relatives, they cut my pension, and I work in the mosque for 13 years as a volunteer, all these harms just for a false and unjust word. They arrested my second son, as a hostage.
In the jail N's son met Abo Amr, who was already badly tortured and his ribs broken. Abo Amr told N's son that he was unable to bear the torture and sent the sheikh a message asking him for forgiveness if he saw him saying bad things against the sheikh on Al-Iraqiya TV channel. He told N's son that his testimony was dictated on him, to say that the sheikh was a terrorist.
Sheikh N is well known in his community which is of a Shiite majority as a very reasonable imam. He is a Sunni, but speaks of the Islamic Hussein revolution thousands of years ago, and the 12 Shiite Imams, better than any Shiite speaker, according to the neighborhood who confirmed that the sheikh was always talking against any sectarian conflict. He was accused of terrorism "I believe that a drop of a Moslem blood is greater than the Great Kaaba, how could I possibly be a terrorist?" The newspapers wrote about the sheikh very bad stories accusing him of immoral stories and terrorism…etc.
The Sheikh's older son is in jail since September27, 2004. But this is another story. This one who works in the university, was going back home with some friends when an American convoy was attacked in Al-Jihad district. All the men around were arrested, they were about 25. He spent 5 months in jail, when the Iraq judge found him not guilty and ordered releasing him. He is still in jail till this moment. His charge is of passing by the American convoy. The sheikh is not angry, but very sad. "There is a conspiracy against Islam, we have to face it. The only solution for Iraq is that the Iraqis are united against the enemy"
The sheikh's wife was crying all the time. She could not forget the raid, the noise, the lights, the searching, stealing the jewelry, the money, the documents, and the books. An officer called his superior saying that the house is clean, that the sheikh was not there, only his son. He was told to bring the son. Sara was so afraid that she could not even open her eyes. "I can not go back and live in the house again, while my husband and my son are not there"
Her daughter in law had a miscarriage because of the shock.
4- A Mother Was Arrested for Asking about Her Son
Um Dhia is 56. On December 31, 2004, her son Dhia who is a sheep merchant went to
Najaf, about 200 kilometers south west of Baghdad, for a deal. He never returned back. Five days later, his
mother, father, uncle and two relatives from Najaf went to ask about him in the police stations in Najaf. They
never returned back, except the two relatives. A week later the rest of the family were asking in the garages
if there was any accidents on the high way, or any explosions in Najaf. They found out that every body was
arrested.
The Family asked a lawyer to look for them, they were afraid that any one, who was going to go looking for them, would be arrested. The lawyer told them that 2 days before Dhia went to Najaf, there was an explosion. And according to the emergency law, any suspect was arrested. Dhia was arrested at a check point, he was unarmed. When the family went to ask about him, the police officer welcomed them with hospitality, told them that he does not know anything about Dhia, but when they left, they were followed by a police patrol and were arrested.
In the Najaf police station the three were tortured. They were kept in separate dark cold rooms with their hands tied. They were beaten and humiliated. The mother asked to see her son. He was brought to her, beaten and tortured in front of her. She collapsed and moved to a hospital, so did the father and the uncle. From the hospital the whole family was moved by airplane to the Interior Ministry in Baghdad. The lawyer said he could not do any thing for them because they were accused of terrorism.
Dhia is a father of 5 children. His family does not know anything about him till
now. But his father, mother and uncle got visits. The mother, however, was moved again to Al-Amiriya prison
for greater crimes, because the women prison in the Interior Ministry was too crowded. The men remained in the
same prison, 50 in one room. She was kept in the prison with other 20 women, who were accused of different
crimes. One of them was tortured so badly that she was hysterical; she keeps on asking about her son, she
tears her clothes, beats herself and cry all the time. She was older than Um Dhia.
The four children, who were left alone, all students, are looked after by the relatives. The younger boy, Atheer, runs the father's shop. The family, who looks so far away from any political interest, is shocked and terrified when they talk about the prison "one of the men was dead because of torture, he was sexually abused, the other was paralyzed," said Aous , the second son.
"In Al-Amiriya, one prisoner was tortured by electricity; he was made to admit things that he did not do, like spreading leaflets", Atheer wanted to sound mature.
Dalfa' ,18, the second daughter who is a student in the Commerce high school, believes that her mother is a strong woman: " she is fasting since she was arrested months ago. She looks weaker and exhausted now. She does not talk about the prison.", but the little daughter Ala', 11, misses her mother : "I need her, they do not let me visit her in prison". Dalfa' thinks that it is better that the little Ala' does not see her mother in prison.
De Ahl Assunna WA Ajjama'a (Soennieten) in Baladroose en de omliggende dorpen lijden onder een campagne van arrestaties, geleid door kolonel Ali Ismael, beter gekend als Ali Cable*, en zijn broer bij de federale politie, majoor Walid Cable*. Er worden zelfs sheikhs uit de moskeeën opgepakt, onder hen sheikh Younis van de Fajr Al-Islam moskee, sheikh Nafi' Ali hussein van de Dahlakiya moskee en sheikh Hamdan van de Somood moskee. Vorige week, tien dagen nadat hij was gekidnapt, werd sheikh Aqeel Ali Khalil van de al-Mustapha moskee, dood teruggevonden met twee kogels in het hoofd.
Er werden meer dan honderd mensen in de moskeeën gearresteerd. Degenen die terug werden vrijgelaten spreken van folterpraktijken. Sommigen hadden verrokken schouders, afgesneden vingers; sommigen werden verkracht; anderen zijn spoorloos verdwenen. Eén van hen stierf onder de martelingen; zijn naam was Othman. Er werden gevangenen vrijgelaten nadat ze zes miljoen Iraakse dinar betaalden aan een agent van Ali Cable. Bij de arrestaties werden alle waardevolle dingen uit de huizen gestolen: juwelen en geld. In Al-Fatimiya werden alle mannen van een woning gearresteerd, het geld werd gestolen en zelfs de schapen werden meegenomen. De vrouwen gingen terug naar hun ouders; de huizen zijn nu leeg en verlaten.
In de moskeeën wordt bijna niet meer gebeden; zelfs het vrijdagsgebed blijft nu uit.
* De kabel (cable) is een symbool voor foltering. Elektriciteitskabels worden als zweep gebruikt.
(Niet alle details van namen, data, beroep, plaatsen,... worden vermeld. De getuige is erop gebrand zijn verhaal te doen, maar hij is bang om zijn identiteit vrij te geven. Hij vreest dat dan een andere zaak tegen hem zou gefabriceerd worden en hij opnieuw gearresteerd en aan martelingen blootgesteld zou worden.)
Abo Amr is vader van meerdere kinderen. Op een nacht werd zijn huis door de Iraakse Nationale Garde overvallen. De deur werd ingebeukt en tientallen ING's bezetten het huis.
- Bent u ... ?
- Nee, mijn naam is ...
- Je liegt, Jullie zijn allemaal leugenaars...
Ze begonnen te slaan en beledigingen te uiten voor de ogen van de familie. Zijn handen werden vastgebonden en hij kreeg een kap over zijn hoofd. Verschillende bezittingen werden meegenomen: een persoonlijk wapen met vergunning, elektrische toestellen zoals een fruitpers, zelfs een schotel met zoetigheden en nog andere zaken. Hij werd naar de eerste plaats van ondervraging gevoerd. Hij dacht dat hij ten laatste na een dag of twee wel zou vrijgelaten worden. De ruimte was ongeveer vijftien vierkante meter groot. Er bevonden zich vijfendertig à veertig gevangen. Het was er koud, maar de kamer was zo overbevolkt dat de gevangenen blij waren met een beetje frisse lucht. Sommigen lagen neer, er zaten gevangenen onder het bloed, één had een gebroken arm, enz... Verschillende gevangenen stonden recht. Abo Amr kon niet slapen; hij vond een barst tussen de stenen waarlangs hij wat frisse lucht kon ademen. De volgende namiddag werd hij voor ondervraging weggevoerd.
Met gebonden ogen en handen werd hij weggeleid. Toen hij vroeg waar hij mocht gaan zitten sloegen ze hem.
Hij werd ondervraagd over een aantal namen die hij niet kende. Ze zegden dat ze deze namen in zijn notitieboek gevonden hadden. Toen hij dat ontkende, werd hij opnieuw geslagen. Eén van de politie-agenten vroeg aan de officier wat hij voor het avondeten wenste: Qouzi, Biriani of masgoof? (Dit zijn namen van typische gerechten.)
“Quozi”, zegde de officier. Het bleken namen van verschillende soorten folteringen te zijn. De Qouzi is het vastbinden van handen en voeten, om dan met een ijzeren stok ertussen ondersteboven opgehangen te worden. (zie afbeelding)
Het was zo pijnlijk. Ze sloegen me met elektrische en gewone stokken. Mijn handen en benen zwollen op. Twee uur later smeten ze me terug in de kamer.
- “Heb je getekend?” vroegen de gevangenen.
- “Wat getekend?” vroeg ik. Ze wisselden blikken.
De
volgende namiddag ondervroegen ze me over bomauto's. Ze hingen me opnieuw op als een Qouzi en drukten hun
sigaretten de hele tijd uit op mijn benen. Ze elektrocuteerden me en ik smeekte hen me neer te laten. Hij
zegde dat ik een soenniet was. Ik zegde dat het me niet kon schelen; we zijn geen vijanden. Ik wenste dat ze
me zouden doodschieten. De vierde dag vertelde ik hem dat ik alles zou toegeven, als ze me maar niet weer
zouden ophangen: doden, stelen, mensen pijn doen, alles... Hij zegde: “explosieven.” Ik zei hem dat ik er
niets van wist en hij sloeg me in mijn gezicht. Ik boog voorover en een politieman achter me sloeg me met een
ijzeren staaf op mijn rug. Het ging zo verder tot ik het bewustzijn verloor.
Een nieuwe stem vroeg hen me wat water te geven en hij bood me een sigaret aan. Ik kon ze niet vasthouden. Hij zegde:”We weten dat je niets van die handelingen gedaan hebt. Je bent hier als getuige. Onderteken deze papieren en dan kan je gaan.” Dat was het gelukkigste moment in mijn leven. Hij liet me mijn vingerafdrukken op zes formulieren zetten. Ik kon ni