The Man Beneath The Hood Speaks Out:“They tortured me,

[hiley]

The Man Beneath The Hood Speaks Out: “They tortured me, they humiliated me"

An interview with Shalal el Kaissi, who has become a symbol of U.S. torture .
by PAOLA COPPOLA
Translated from an article in La Repubblica, by Mary Rizzo

09/14/05 "ICH"

“They tortured me, they humiliated me, they have destroyed me inside. I want that what has happened to me never happens again, that everyone knows what those months in Abu Ghraib were like. This is my new life: to denounce that which is happening in the Iraqi prisons, to defend the rights of those who are inside of them”. Former prisoner number 151716 of the prison of shame speaks. The man who has been recognised in one of the photo-symbols of the violence of Abu Ghraib: the hooded prisoner, standing balanced on a cardboard box, his shoulders to the wall, with his arms opened and the fingers of his hands connected to electrical wires.

Ali Shalal el Kaissi, 42 years old, was arrested in October of 2003 in a car park near the mosque of El Amariyah and was imprisoned with the accusation of being part of the guerrilla movement. In the disgusting jargon of his torturers, he was “Clawman”, due to a noticeable burn mark on his hand. He was released January of 2004 and, several months later, founded together with another 12 persons, “The association of the victims of American occupation prisons".

Invited to speak at the Conference on Iraq organised by the Anti-Imperialist Camp this October, Hajj Ali (“Hajj is a title that is given to those who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca) knows of the American pressures on the visas which have been denied to the other Iraqis. He is still awaiting a response: “I don’t know if I will be allowed to attend,” he says. In these days he is in Amman, in Jordan, where he has frequented a formation course for humanitarian operators.

When did you see the photo of the hooded man for the first time and did you recognise yourself?
“The volunteers of an Iraqi association that deals with human rights showed me the photos taken at Abu Ghraib. It was a shock, a personal destruction. I suffered that which you see in the images: they covered my head, tortured me and made me undergo such strong pressure. They photographed me many times. But others established that that prisoner was me: human rights organisations and even journalistic investigations, one from the American broadcaster PBS, and another from a magazine, “Vanity Fair”.

snip---


Translated from an article in La Repubblica, by Mary Rizzo - Visit her Blog
http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/09/prisoner-symbol-of-abu-ghraib.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10270.htm

[hiley]

1. kick

truth

[JAbuchan08]

2. kick

[Mnemosyne]

3. kick

for truth.

[nonny]

4. Thank you hiley

The symbol of torture at Abu Ghraib prison has a name.
He is not just a graphic image -- his name is

Ali Shalal el Kaissi and he is 42 years old.

Thank you for telling us his name and his story.

[hiley]

5. Ali Shalal el Kaissi

One day we can tell him how ashamed we are of our Government for doing these crimes in our name.
hiley

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Wow

------------------------------------------------------
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[hiley]

7. This is a must read

and send out to freeper relatives and GOP, please.

[Duncan Grant]

8. Never forget this is Donald Rumsfeld's (and Cheney's) legacy.

The image of Ali Shalal el Kaissi standing on that box will shame Americans for decades. This administration is a freaking toxic waste dump. :grr:

[WhiteTara]

9. kicking for human dignity

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[texpatriot2004]

10. Americans should be better than that. We don't torture so that

our people don't end up tortured. Torture violates human rights and human dignity - KNOCK IT OFF!

Where is the "Compassion" in that? Where is the "Christianity" in that? What about "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" does that ring a bell?

[lonestarnot]

11. fucking kick it!

[crispini]

12. ,

:kick:

[psychopomp]

13. I would like to know more

about this man and his story.

:kick:

[hiley]

14. Learn about some of the people

Read the cases of:
Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali
Walid Muhammad Shahir Muhammad al-Qadasi
Osama Nasr Mostafa Hassan
http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/secretdetentions.html

Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali

Yemeni national, Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali, 27 years old, was living in Jakarta, Indonesia, with his Indonesian wife Aisha when he was arrested on August 19, 2003, while out shopping. He was held in the main immigration center in Jakarta for four days before being sent to Jordan. On arrival at Amman airport, he was taken to the detention facilities of the Jordanian intelligence service, where he says he was tortured continuously for four days. He says that he was routinely beaten by Jordanian officials, including with sticks, spat upon, verbally abused and threatened with sexual abuse and electric shocks. He also describes in detail being subjected to the torture technique known as falaqa (beatings with sticks on the soles of the feet). On one occasion the guards tried to force him to sit on a bottle so that it would penetrate his anus. It was only when he threatened to hit them with the bottle that they backed off.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/muhammad_salah.html

Denounce Torture guide
http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/pdf/action_guide_08082005.pdf

Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah

Yemeni national, Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah, aged 37, also lived in Indonesia. In October 2003 he traveled to Jordan with his wife Zahra to be with his mother who was about to have medical treatment there. On arrival at Amman airport, Jordanian immigration authorities took his passport and told him to collect it three days later. When he tried to collect it he was detained by the General Intelligence Department (Da’irat al-Mukhabarat al-‘Amah) and was asked whether he had ever traveled to Afghanistan. He answered “yes”. From that moment, he didn’t see anyone except Jordanian and U.S. prison guards and interrogators until he was handed over to the Yemeni authorities more than a year and a half later. While in custody in Jordan, Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah was tortured to the extent that he broke down in distress when asked about it by AI delegates in June 2005.

Amnesty International members make their voice heard during a recent demonstration. © AI

For over three years Amnesty International has reported allegations of torture, ill-treatment and deaths of those held in US custody in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo, and elsewhere. As the now-famous photographs and news stories from Iraq make clear, the example the United States is setting is at best a mixed one.

Get the latest updates from our new Denounce Torture Blog. »
http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/campaign.html

Learn more about the victims of our Goverment..

Act Now
Look at this flash:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/quotes/index.html

[TacticalPeek]

15. Kick.

:kick:

[LibertyorDeath]

16. Thanks hiley

They will do this to Americans in the not to distant future IMO

They will do it to anyone that stands in their way

Power & Control by any means necessary.

It's what they're about.

Evil personified.

They are taking America down a terrible path.

[Oilwellian]

17. This says it all

"In the zone of Al Garma there are also women and children imprisoned, fifteen in all. The worst part of all of this is that in 99% of the cases the prisoners are innocent and they are then released. But in the meantime, in prison they have lost their dignity.”

Remember Seymour Hersch's description of a video that had a boy shrieking while being raped by Iraqi guards, and our intel officers were watching (and probably taping) as they did it? The horror of it will haunt this boy for the rest of his life and I doubt he'll approve of the type of democracy we're imposing on his country.