Interview with persecuted young atheist in Erbil

[rug]

KURDISTAN - A teenage school student from Erbil has made headlines after it was revealed that he was imprisoned in solitary confinement, severely tortured, simply for openly saying that he is an atheist.

Rozh Ahmad
Last updated: May 27, 2014

Ahmad Sherwan, 16, says he was first arrested last year when he was only 15.

"I was tortured with electric shocks, imprisoned in dark solitary confinement, threatened to be killed, attended trials and now waiting for my final trial, simply for having voiced my opinion that I no longer believe in God and proud of being an atheist,” he said in a phone interview with Your Middle East.

"My father and I had a debate on 13 October 2013, during which I revealed I no longer believe God and that religion is just a myth. This was the fruit of my extracurricular readings. But father was furious; left home and reported me to the police. I was arrested at home at 11:00pm," he said.

"Three policemen hit me with belts, kicked me with jackboots and tortured me with electric shocks at the Azadi police station in Erbil. I felt unconscious and whenever I tried to open my eyes, they insulted me, spat on me and beat me until I was unconscious again.

http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/culture/interview-with-persecuted-young-atheist-in-erbil_23918

[okasha]

1. My gods.

Somebody get that child out of there.

[rug]

2. I'm surprised this hasn't been reported more widely.

I haven't seen it in any other source except here, http://www.awene.com/ , which doesn't help.

[okasha]

3. I hope AI is on it.

It's a human rights violation on so many levels. Appalling.

[Htom Sirveaux]

4. I'm angry with his family for getting him arrested in the first place.

Everything that has happened to him has got to be twice as difficult since it's due to family betrayal. I hope they work very hard for the rest of their lives to earn his forgiveness.

[Dorian Gray]

5. Wow

Poor kid. What he had to endure was awful.

[cbayer]

6. Why has this not been reported anywhere else?

The story is over a year old and this is just a reprise of the original. It seems unfathomable that no one every picked this up.

The site seems really legit. Is this just a potato that is too hot for anyone to touch it?

[rug]

9. I don't know. Kurdistan is remote and unsettled but I'll keep looking.

[Jim__]

7. You would think that a culture with so many educated clerics would try to convince him ...

... through education rather than torture.

[frogmarch]

8. Or they could let him be

who he is without trying to turn him into another one of them.