[News] US troops abused prisoners in Mosul

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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9445137D-23BB-4050-BDEB-222BE77AA93B.htm
US troops abused prisoners in Mosul
Tuesday 14 September 2004 4:07 PM GMT

A British lawyer says he has uncovered evidence US troops mistreated 
detainees in the Iraqi city of Mosul, suggesting abuse had spread far 
beyond the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

On Tuesday Phil Shiner sent Reuters statements by two Iraqis who said they 
were hooded, stripped naked, beaten and doused with cold water at lengthy 
torture sessions in a place called "the disco" because of loud Western 
music constantly blasted at detainees.

One said he had seen a 14-year-old boy bleeding from his anus. The other 
said he was threatened with sexual assault.

The allegations appear to be the first reports of abuse in Mosul.

Washington has acknowledged detainees were abused at Abu Ghraib, and Shiner 
is leading a case on behalf of Iraqis who say they were mistreated by 
British forces in Basra.

Three Iraqi staff working for Reuters say they were beaten and sexually 
humiliated by US troops near Falluja in January.

US denial

A US military spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq said in Baghdad he 
was unaware of the allegations.

"I am surprised by them," he said. "I have visited that facility up there 
and I've seen the good work that they've been doing."

But in the statements provided by Shiner, Haitham Said al-Mullah, an 
engineer, said he was brought to "the disco" where "they left me standing 
for hours, handcuffed and hooded".

"Then I was kicked very hard in the stomach, which was followed by 
continuous beating with a stick and with their boots until I fell 
unconscious. I only woke up after they poured over my head very cold water."

He said he was then abused in groups with other detainees, forced to carry 
out exhausting exercises and beaten or doused with cold water whenever they 
fell to the floor. They were not permitted to use the toilet and allowed 
only two hours of sleep.

"I saw a young man of 14 years of age bleeding from his anus and lying on 
the floor. He was Kurdish and his name was Hama.

I heard the soldiers talking to each other about this guy.

They mentioned that the reason for this bleeding was inserting a metal 
object in his anus," he said.

Abused by day

The other alleged Mosul victim, Yasir Rubaai Said al-Qutaji, was described 
as an Iraqi lawyer investigating reports of abuse at "the disco" when he 
was arrested.

After day and night being forced into stress positions and doused with cold 
water at "the disco", he was taken to a regular prison. Staff and 
interrogators there treated him properly at night, but allowed the same 
"disco team" to abuse him by day.

He was threatened with sexual assault on his final day.

"The only reason he was detained was that he was working on documenting 
these cases of torture, at this prison and the Americans then went and 
detained him," Shiner said.

The US government has said abuse of prisoners in Iraq was mainly confined 
to a few rogue soldiers at Abu Ghraib.

But in January, three Iraqis working for Reuters said they had been 
subjected to sexual humiliation, anal abuse, beatings, stress positions, 
sleep deprivation and disorientation using bright lights and loud music 
during three days of detention at a US base outside the city of Falluja 
west of Baghdad.



The US army denied the allegations, saying an investigation found no 
evidence of such abuse.

The Iraqis working for Reuters were never interviewed for the 
investigation, which took evidence only from US soldiers who denied that 
abuse took place.



The Pentagon has rejected demands by Reuters for a more thorough investigation.

Reuters
By

You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9445137D-23BB-4050-BDEB-222BE77AA93B.htm 



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