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.

Read more.

Series on Guantanamo Bay

The McClatchy News Group has released its findings after an eight month investigation into the men who have been detained at Guantanamo Bay. The conclusions of the story is that while many of the men held at Guantanamo were originally not affiliated in any way to a terrorist group, being tortured and abused at both Afghanistan and Cuba shifted their mind set.

This article is a great exploration into why torture is wrong and why it never works.

Read the report.

Official brought to trail for involvement in Rwandan genocide

The BBC reports that Callixte Kalimanzira has been brought before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for involvement in the massacre of thousands of ethnic Tutsis:

Christine Graham, representing the prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), said Mr Kalimanzira had played a "key role" in the massacre of Tutsis.

Ms Graham said that in 1994 thousands of Tutsi refugees had approached Mr Kalimanzira - who was then caretaker interior minister - seeking his help.

Instead, she alleged, the accused had participated in their massacre.

Ms Graham said the killings were carried out over several days by soldiers and militia on a hill at Kibuye, in southern Rwanda.

The ICTR was set up by the UN in the Tanzanian town of Arusha, in 1997, to try the most high-profile genocide cases.

Those tried so far include government ministers, members of parliament, and military officers.

Read the whole story.

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.

Former Pinochet General sentenced to 15 years

The Jurist reports that Chilean ex-general Manuel Contreras, who commanded Pinochet's secret police has been found guilty of kidnapping:

A Chilean court Thursday sentenced a retired general to 15 years in prison for his role in the 1974 disappearance of a political dissident. General Manuel Contreras [TrialWatch profile], the secret police chief under former dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive], is already serving a cumulative prison sentence of 57 years for several other convictions.

You can read the Jurist Report

Or the AP Report

Also more is at Trial Watch

White House Officials Torture Talks

The Washington Post, Dan Froomkin, responds to the ABC report which revealed that top government officials were intimately involved in orchestrating the interrogation techniques of the CIA operatives:

Top Bush aides, including Vice President Cheney, micromanaged the torture of terrorist suspects from the White House basement, according to an ABC News report aired last night.

Discussions were so detailed, ABC's sources said, that some interrogation sessions were virtually choreographed by a White House advisory group. In addition to Cheney, the group included then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, then-secretary of state Colin Powell, then-CIA director George Tenet and then-attorney general John Ashcroft.

At least one member of the club had some qualms. ABC reports that Ashcroft "was troubled by the discussions. He agreed with the general policy decision to allow aggressive tactics and had repeatedly advised that they were legal. But he argued that senior White House advisers should not be involved in the grim details of interrogations, sources said.

"According to a top official, Ashcroft asked aloud after one meeting: 'Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.'"

Read the whole article.

Watch the ABC Video.

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.

Read more.

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."

Read more.