Testimony of Torture
Ali Shalal, a professor of theology, recently testified before the War Crimes Commission in Kuala Lumpur to the torture and abuse he suffered whilst detained in Abu Ghraib by Coalition forces in Iraq.
“On the 13th October, 2003 while I was going to prayer in the mosque in Al-Amraya, the American troops arrested me. They tied my hands to the back of my body and put a bag over my head. They took me to a small prison in a U.S. military camp in Al-Amraya…
After two days, they transferred me to the Abu Ghraib prison. The first thing they did to me was to make a physical examination of my body and abused me. Together with other detainees, we were made to sit on the floor and were dragged to the interrogation room. This so called room is in fact a toilet (approximately 2m by 2m) and was flooded with water and human waste up to my ankle level. I was asked to sit in the filthy water while the American interrogator stood outside the door, with the translator.
After the interrogation, I would be removed from the toilet, and before the next detainee is put into the toilet, the guards would urinate into the filthy water in front of the other detainees…During my captivity in the camp, I was interrogated and tortured twice. Each time I was threatened that I would be sent to Guantanamo Bay prison. During this period, I heard from my fellow detainees that they were tortured by cigarette burns, injected with hallucinating chemicals and had their rectum inserted with various types of instruments, such as wooden sticks and pipes. They would return to the camp, bleeding profusely. Some had their bones broken…
After one month and just before sunset my number was called and they put a bag over my head and my hands were tied behind my back. My legs were also tied. They then transferred me to a cell.
When I was brought to the cell, they asked me in Arabic to strip but when I refused, they tore my clothes and tied me up again. They then dragged me up a flight of stairs and when I could not move, they beat me repeatedly. When I reached the top of the stairs, they tied me to some steel bars. They then threw at me human waste and urinated on me…
Next, they put a gun to my head and said that they would execute me there. Another soldier would use a megaphone to shout at me using abusive words and to humiliate me. During this time, I could hear the screams of other detainees being tortured. This went on till the next morning.
In the morning, an Israeli stood in front of me and took the bag from my head and told me in Arabic that he was an Israeli had interrogated and tortured detainees in Palestine. He told me that when detainees would not cooperate, they would be killed. He asked me repeatedly for names of resistance fighters. I told him that I do not know any resistance fighters but he would not believe me, and continued to beat me.
This Israeli dressed in civilian clothes tortured me by inserting in turn first with a jagged wooden stick into my rectum and then with the barrel of a rifle. I was cut inside and bled profusely. During this time, when any guard walked past me, they would beat me. I had no food for 36 hours…
I was electrocuted on three separate sessions. On the first two sessions, I was electrocuted twice, each time lasting few minutes. On the last session, as I was being electrocuted, I accidentally bit my tongue and was bleeding from the mouth. They stop the electrocution and a doctor was called to attend to me. I was lying down on the floor. The doctor poured some water into my mouth and used his feet to force open my mouth. He then remarked, “There is nothing serious, continue!” Then he left the room…
I was then left alone in my cell for 49 days. During this period of detention, they stopped torturing me. At the end of the 49th day, I was transferred back to the camp, in tent C and remained there for another 45 days. I was informed by a prisoner that he over heard some guards saying that I was wrongly arrested and that I would be released.
I was released in the beginning of March 2004. I was put into a truck and taken to a highway and then thrown out. A passing car stopped and took me home.”
Read his full testimony here, and recall that the same people who tortured Shalal and countless others at Abu Ghraib are currently operating Guantanamo Bay.
Filed under: Iraq, News and politics, Torture, US | 10 Comments
Tags: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights
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Incidentally, smintheus has written an informative post about this over at Never In Our Names.
Unbelievable. As in my coddled, western mind simply finds it impossible to take this in. That innocent people can be treated in this disgustingly, appalling barbaric way, by a country that aspires to be the example the rest of us look up to.
It makes me nauseaous just thinking about it; god help those that ever have to go through it.
How do we stop this? How do we ensure the monsters responsible – from those ‘working’ in the prison(s) right up to those providing the money and the political backing – are brought to Justice? How do we educate the soul-blind about their responsibilities to their fellow human beings? How on Earth can we move forward as a race – the Human race – when such evil is being perpetrated on a daily basis?
I don’t really know how to stop it. Impeach/try those responsible – if that’s possible. Elect leaders who will uphold as opposed to violate basic international and domestic law – if any exist. Engage in mass civil disobedience until, for example, Guanatanamo Bay is closed.
I can’t see any of that happening any time soon, unfortunately.
Unbelievable, disgusting. Who will make Bush close Guantanamo Bay, and how?
Well, the only possible answer I can think of is the American people. As to when this will happen…who knows? Hopefully sooner rather than later.
(And, of course, that’s not mentioning the secret CIA “black sites” around the world, where people are “disappeared” to and tortured, detained without charge or trial).
I can’t think of a word to describe this. And then we’re told we’re freeing the people of Iraq…
I share you horror and disgust.
The idea that the Iraq war had anything to do with freedom was never one that could be taken seriously, and the idea that the “war on terror” actually has somthing to do with combating terrorism is a similarly ludicrous proposition.
Join Amnesty’s virtual trip to Guantanamo asking for it to be closed. Amnesty International has launched an animated online petition asking for people to join our flotilla travelling all the way to Guantánamo.
It’s not just about designing your outfit, doing your hair or choosing your mode of transport, but also about making a difference by creating an active social community.
Guantánamo Bay is a symbol of injustice and abuse. It must be closed down.
Join activists worldwide today in showing solidarity with the detainees and their families, demanding once more, and louder than ever, that the US government close Guantánamo!
Help us pass the message! Please forward the link to as many people as you can: http://www.amnesty.org/guantanamoflotilla/ and ask them to sign up to the campaign and forward it to their friends and colleagues. People can also link to the flotilla from their website or blog. Find banners and buttons in English, Spanish, French, German & Arabic here: http://web.amnesty.org/pages/stoptorture-bannersflotilla-eng
This extraordinary journey, a unique opportunity to express your opposition to Guantánamo, will help to pressure the US government to close the camp once and for all.