More Visas for Iraqis

The New York Times reports that the United States has expanded its Visa program ten fold for those Iraqis employed by the American government in Baghdad:

Although the program was established by law in January, it has become a practical reality just in the last two to three weeks as guidelines have been finalized and the embassy has brought in staff members and started processing applications.

The decision is the latest step in the administration’s attempt to answer sharp criticism over its failure to help even those Iraqis who have made the American presence in Iraq possible by serving as translators and supervisors on embassy projects, for the American military and for the Agency for International Development. But critics in the refugee relief community noted that the State Department had promised several times that it would try to speed up the process, and that it had not come through.

State Department officials attribute the gap between words and deeds to a cumbersome refugee resettlement system that includes fingerprinting, job checks, name checks and interviews.

The program will allow 5,000 Iraqis to go to the United States for each of the next five years. Each person can take immediate family members, who include spouses and children. More distant relatives, including siblings, parents and grandchildren, can apply under another program. So the actual numbers emigrating will probably be considerably higher. The average Iraqi household is estimated to have about six people, according to officials from the International Organization for Migration.

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Abu Ghraib Inmates Sue For Torture

The AFP reports that four former Abu Ghraib prisoners are suing a U.S. firm for torture:

Their lawsuit is against private security contractor CACI International and two of its interrogators, Daniel Johnson and Tim Dugan, and the translation agency L-3 (formerly Titan Corp) and its interpreter, Abel Nakhla, lawyer William Gould told AFP in Istanbul on Monday.

One of the current plaintiffs, Suhail Najim Abdullah Al-Shimari, 49, was taken from his Bagdad home in November 2003 and spent more than a year at Abu Ghraib, where he claims to have been subjected to electroshock and night-long cold showers in the winter.

"We think there will be people there in the United States who will want to give us back our dignity... by bringing these people to justice," he told AFP via an interpreter.

Sa'adon Ali Hameed Al-Ogaidi, 39, said he was repeatedly beaten at Abu Ghraib and tied to door handles.

"At times, it seemed they were torturing people to have fun," said the former prisoner, who claims to have witnessed guards sodomising prisoners.

Taxi driver Mohammed Abdwihed Towfek Al-Taee, 39, was taken to Abu Ghraib in 2003.

He has scars on his leg and head that he said came from beatings with an iron rod. He also said he was forced to drink litres of water while his penis was tied to prevent him from urinating.

"I wish I would be the last person to be detained and to be tortured," he said.

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Guantanamo Bay Detainees Allege Drugging

The Washington Post reports that at least 2 dozen former and current detainees claimed they were drugged or witnessed other inmates being drugged against their will:

"I'd fall asleep" after the shot, Nusairi, a former Saudi policeman captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2002, recalled in an interview with his attorney at the military prison in Cuba, according to notes. After being roused, Nusairi eventually did talk, giving U.S. officials what he later described as a made-up confession to buy some peace.

Read the whole article.

Jolie Highlights the Plight of Iraqi Refugee Children

Voice of America reports that actress Angelina Jolie is speaking out about Iraqi refugee children:

Jolie again used her star power to speak out for children in war zones, on the day the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus testified before congressional committees.

Jolie has spent time with Iraqi refugee families and is concerned with the lack of assistance that is being offered for these families:

"I would think even [General David] Petraeus would agree that a surge does not just mean it works if you get numbers of violence down," she said. "It works if humanitarian aid is tarting to increase and changes are able to be made."

Half of the four million Iraqis forced out of their homes are internally displaced. Tens of thousands have fled to Syria and Jordan, and much smaller numbers of Iraqi refugees are in Egypt and Lebanon.

In addition to the trauma of being a refugee Jolie pointed out the fact that many of these refugees have also survived torture:

Jolie said the vast majority of Iraqi children have been traumatized by the horrors of war and now have special needs.

"These children are also traumatized," she said. "One in every five Iraqi registered in Syria is registered as a victim of torture or extreme violence. There was also a study done, that not surprisingly, 92 percent of the children in Iraq had learning impediments, due to a climate of fear."

Jolie said there are no easy solutions to improve access to education in Iraq, but efforts should focus on improving education infrastructure for refugees in host countries, providing books and supplies, recruiting teachers and integrating school dropouts, especially girls.

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Torture Memos Released.

Yesterday the 81-page "Torture Memo" written by John Yoo was publicly released.

The Justice Department sent a legal memorandum to the Pentagon in 2003 asserting that federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes.

The 81-page memo, which was declassified and released publicly yesterday, argues that poking, slapping or shoving detainees would not give rise to criminal liability. The document also appears to defend the use of mind-altering drugs that do not produce "an extreme effect" calculated to "cause a profound disruption of the senses or personality."

Read the whole story here.

Murat Kurnaz

60 Minutes interviews Murat Kurnaz, a German citizen who was held at Guantanamo Bay for 3 1/2 years, despite the fact US and German intelligence declared his innocence:

5 Years Later

The Wall Street Journal reports on the current state of Iraq. Their finding is that 5 years after the U.S. led invasion, Iraq is a place full of internally displaced peoples and surrounding countries struggle to carry the burden of the millions of Iraqi refugees:

But far more common still is Ms. Abood's journey from middle-class prosperity to transient poverty, reflecting the life-shattering disappointment that many Iraqis now see as the legacy of the war. An estimated four million Iraqis -- over 14% of the country's population -- have been displaced inside Iraq or to neighboring countries, largely due to the chaotic aftermath of the American-led invasion that began on March 19, 2003.

Read the article here.

At Survivors of Torture, International we have been tracking the refugee crisis knowing that evidently some of these folks will make their way to our door. In January the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees released a study in which 754 Iraqi refugees living in Syria were interviewed. Every single person reported witnessing a traumatic event.

Also one out of five of Iraqi refugees registered with the UNHCR (which is more than 19,000 people) have reported being victims of torture and or violence.

No matter what side of the aisle you are on, or what political opinion you subscribe to, it is safe to say we all agree that the war in Iraq has been a hard and devastating time. In light of this fact we are prepared to welcome these survivors of torture and are anxiously anticipating beginning their journey toward healing.

In CNN's Behind the Scenes series reporters share personal stories relating to investigations and reporting. In this article Arwa Damon shares the story of Iraqi women living with the consequences of torture.

"You have been beaten, pushed, kicked and blindfolded," Yanar says, describing today's Iraqi woman. "You cannot see, you cannot hear, but you are kicking back. It's not OK to be like that. You kick back and you fight for what you deserve ... you should not be turned into a prisoner."

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