The testimony of former Iraqi prisoner in Abo Graib
Good morning..
still we are working to hear from former Iraqi detainees or prisoners,
after the invasion of our country.
or is it so-called liberation?
this is the testimony of the man who was in the famous photo from
AboGraib
prison, the man with hood , wearing black blanket, standing on a box,
with electrical wires connected to his hands.
want you to read with me, to see the real face of the occupation in
Iraq.
and let us all work to stop this invasion, and pull out the troops
from Iraq.
we want our country back....
faiza
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STATUTORY DECLARATION
I, Ali Sh. Abbas (alias Ali Shalal) of full age and an Iraqi citizen
do hereby solemnly and sincerely declare as follows:
1. I am 45 years old.
2. I now live in Amman, Jordan.
3. I was an Islamic education lecturer in the city of Al-Aladamiya,
Iraq
4. The purpose of making this statutory declaration is to put on
record my torture experience in the Abu Ghraib prison.
5. On the 13th October, 2003 while I was going to prayer in the mosque
in Al-Amraya, Baghdad, 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.
6. The Commander of this military camp, one Captain Philips told me
that he had received an order from his superior to arrest me and he
did not know the reasons for my arrest. I was left alone in the
prison.
7. 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 heel level. I was asked to
sit in the filthy water while the American interrogator stood outside
the door, with the translator.
8. 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.
9. The first question they asked me was, "Are you a Sunni or Shiia?" I
answered that this is the first time I have been asked this question
in my life. I was surprised by this question, as in Iraq there is no
such distinction or difference. The American interrogator replied that
I must answer directly the questions and not to reply outside the
question. He then said that in Iraq there are Sunnis, Shiias and
Kurds.
10. The interrogators wore civilian clothes and the translator, an
Afro-American wore American army uniform.
11. When I answered that I am an Iraqi Muslim, the interrogator
refused to accept my answer and charged me for the following offence:
(a) That I am anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic.
(b) I supported the resistance
(c) I instigated the people to oppose the occupation
(d) That I knew the location of Osama bin Ladin
I protested and said that Muslims and Jews descended from the same
historical family. I said that I could not be in the resistance
because I am a disabled person and have an injured hand.
12. The interrogator accused me that I had injured my hand while
attacking the American soldiers.
13. The interrogator informed me that they knew that I was an
important person in the community and therefore could help them. As an
inducement for my cooperation, the interrogator offered medical help
for my injured hand.
14. When I did not cooperate, the interrogator asked me whether I
considered the American army as "liberator" or "occupier". When I
replied that they were occupiers, he lost his temper and threatened
me. He told me that I would be sent to Guantanamo Bay where even
animals would not be able to survive.
15. They took me to another room and took record of my thumb print, a
photo of my eye and a sample of my saliva for DNA analysis. After this
procedure, they tagged me by putting a band round my wrist with the
following particulars: my name, a number, my religious status and
whether I had previous arrest.
16. They then beat me repeatedly and put me in a truck to transfer me
to another part of the Abu Ghraib prison.
17. This part of the prison, was in an open space and consisted of
five sectors, surrounded by walls and barb wires and was called "Fiji
Land". Each sector had five tents and surrounded by barb wires. When I
was removed from the truck, the soldiers marked my forehead with the
words "Big Fish" in red. All the detainees in this camp are considered
"Big Fish". I was located in camp "B".
18. The living conditions in the camp were very bad. Each tent would
have 45 to 50 detainees and the space for each detainee measured only
30cm by 30cm. We had to wait for 2 to 3 hours just to go to the
toilets. There was very little water. Each tent was given only 60
litres of water daily to be shared by the detainees. This water was
used for drinking and washing and cleaning the wounds after the
torture sessions. They would also make us to stand for long hours.
19. Sometimes, as a punishment, no food is given to us. When food is
given, breakfast is at 5.00 am, lunch is at 8.00 am and dinner at 1.00
pm. During Ramadhan, they bring food twice daily, first at 12.00
midnight and the second is given during fasting time to make the
detainees break the religious duty of fasting.
20. 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.
21. In my camp, I saw detainees brought over from a secret prison
which I came to know later as being housed in the "Arabian Oil
Institute" building, situated in the north of Baghdad. These detainees
were badly injured.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. The next morning, the Israeli interrogator came to my cell and
tied me to the grill of the cell and he then played the pop song, "By
the Rivers of Babylon" by Pop Group Boney M, continuously until the
next morning. The effect on me was that I lost my hearing, and I lost
my mind. It was very painful and I lost consciousness. I only woke up
when the Israeli guard poured water on my head and face. When I regain
consciousness, he started beating me again and demanded that I tell
him of the names of resistance fighters and what activities that I did
against the American soldiers. When I told him that I did not know any
resistance fighters, he kicked me many times.
28. I was kept in the cell without clothes for two weeks. During this
time, an American guard by the name of "Grainer" accompanied by a
Moroccan Jew called Idel Palm ( also known as Abu Hamid) came to my
cell and asked me about my bandaged hand which was injured before I
was arrested. I told him that I had an operation. He then pulled the
bandage which stained with blood from my hand and in doing so, tore
the skin and flesh from my hands. I was in great pain and when I asked
him for some pain killers, he stepped on my hands and said "this is
American pain killer" and laughed at me.
29. On the 15th day of detention, I was given a blanket. I was
relieved that some comfort was given to me. As I had no clothes, I
made a hole in the centre of the blanket by rubbing the blanket
against the wall, and I was able to cover my body. This is how all the
prisoners cover their bodies when they were given a blanket.
30. One day, a prisoner walked past my cell and told me that the
interrogators want to speed up their investigation and would use more
brutal methods of torture to get answers that they want from the
prisoners. I was brought to the investigation room, after they put a
bag over my head. When I entered the investigation room, they remove
the bag from my head to let me see the electrical wires which was
attached to an electrical wall socket.
31. Present in the room was the Moroccan Jew, Idel Palm, the Israeli
interrogator, two Americans one known as "Davies" and the other
"Federick" and two others. They all wore civilian clothes, except the
Americans who wore army uniforms. Idel Palm told me in Arabic that
unless I cooperated, this would be my last chance to stay alive. I
told him that I do not know anything about the resistance. The bag was
then placed over my head again, and left alone for a long time. During
this time, I heard several screams and cries from detainees who were
being tortured.
32. The interrogators returned and forcefully placed me on top of a
carton box containing can food. They then connected the wires to my
fingers and ordered me to stretch my hand out horizontally, and
switched on the electric power. As the electric current entered my
whole body, I felt as if my eyes were being forced out and sparks
flying out. My teeth were clattering violently and my legs shaking
violently as well. My whole body was shaking all over.
33. 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. However, the guard stopped the
electrocution as I was bleeding profusely from my mouth and blood was
all over my blanket and body. But they continued to beat me. After
some time, they stopped beating me and took me back to my cell.
34. Throughout the time of my torture, the interrogators would take
photographs.
35. 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.
36. 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.
37. As a result of this experience, I decided to establish an
association to assist all torture victims, with the help of twelve
other tortured victims.
38. I feel very sad that I have to remember and relive this horrible
experience again and again, and I hope that the people will answer our
call for help. God willing.
And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same
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