- One of the Iraqi men who says he was photographed in
degrading poses by American prison guards in Abu Ghraib jail is unemployed
father-of-five Haydar Sabbar Abed. He told his story to the BBC Arabic
Service.
-
- I had hired a taxi and we were stopped at the main gate
of Taji Camp in Baghdad which is under the control of the American troops.
-
- They demanded to see my papers, but I didn't have any,
so I was arrested and taken to the army headquarters in Fifth District
and then to the detention camp at the airport.
-
- I was told they would ask me a few questions and then
I'd be released after a couple of days, but nothing happened for three
days.
-
- Then, at four in the morning on the third day they called
out my number, 13077, and I was taken to Boqa camp in Basra where I thought
I'd be tried in an Iraqi court.
-
- But what have I done? I'm not a criminal. I've got five
kids and my family didn't even know where I was.
-
- Punished for beating
-
- Then I was taken to Camp One in Abu Ghraib.
-
- They tortured me after I had a fight with an Iraqi working
in the camp who was having a relationship with a female soldier.
-
- He was giving us a hard time and we had to beat him up.
-
- So they started torturing us. They cut our clothes off
with blades. We were stripped naked, even our underwear was cut off.
-
- Then they ordered us to do things in front of a female
soldier.
-
- They told us to masturbate towards this female soldier.
But we didn't agree to do it, so they beat us.
-
- How could you do something like that in such circumstances.
I was frightened, my whole body was shaking.
-
- Then they put a bag on my head, and I pretended, I made
movements like I was masturbating.
-
- Broken jaw
-
- They made us act like dogs, putting leashes around our
necks and making us bark. They'd whistle and we'd have to bark like dogs.
-
- They made us stand up and then climb on top of each other,
one after the other.
-
- They said they were going to kill us, but in the end
they took the bags off our heads and I was surprised to see my friends
around me.
-
- They had beat me so hard that they broke my jawbone.
Even now I can't eat properly
-
- Later a team of American intelligence officers came to
see us.
-
- They asked us what had happened and I told them exactly
what I've just told you.
-
- I was taken to court, but on 15 April I was released.
-
- - It is not possible to verify Mr Abed's account of his
experiences in Abu Ghraib prison, although the abuse is consistent with
the findings of a US Department of Defense investigation.
-
- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3689371.stm
|
