Relatives wait in vain for word on Iraqis jailed by U.S.

[Aidoneus]

19 Jan 2004 07:49
Relatives wait in vain for word on Iraqis jailed by U.S.
By Suleiman al-Khalidi

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (Reuters) - At the barbed wire fence around Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, Safia Shamri pleaded with a U.S. soldier to be allowed a glimpse of her only remaining son, who she says has been in jail since October.

"I come here just to cry and beg them to see my son. It's as if we are animals, not human beings," said 45-year-old Shamri as she waited next to the guard house towers outside the complex. "Are these the human rights that Bush is talking about?"

Shamri says her two sons were in a car on the way to the town of Kerbala in October when they were fired on by U.S. troops after a nearby checkpoint had been attacked. She saw the body of Haidar, 17, in the morgue, riddled with bullets. She has been told that 20-year-old Ali was imprisoned after the incident.

Shamri is one of the many Iraqis who flock to the prison -- women clutching scraps of paper with identification numbers and photos, fathers looking for their sons, wives for their husbands, robed trial chiefs inquiring about villagers.

Relatives wait for hours as two lorry loads of new prisoners are brought in with their heads covered with sacks. Many have been trying for months -- in vain -- to see their relatives.

--snip--

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4156343

[leftchick]

1. War Crimes...

In a sane world the bush* junta would be charged with war crimes. Sickening..... :(