MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-09-19 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] News from the Middle East: Report of tourture chambers in Iraq
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hilling reminder of terror; Walls of Gharib
ABU GHARIB, Iraq,(AP): The holding cells in the death chamber at the notorious Abu Gharib prison are a chilling reminder of the terror inmates felt as they awaited the inevitable. Etched on the walls of the 10 cells are dozens of inmates' names, prayers and dedications. "Save me, oh God," read one. The writer of that plea was one of perhaps thousands of political prisoners who were hanged because they refused to pledge allegiance to Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath Party, or were suspected of spying for Iran or the United States. "Once a prisoner entered the death chamber block, he knew that he would never walk out alive. It was the waiting room. Their fate was sealed when they walked into this compound," said Brig Gen Janis Karpinski, whose 800th Military Police Brigade oversees all the detention centers.
The death chamber holding cells are now empty and the executions have stopped, but the prison is still being used. Abu Gharib, known to be the largest prison in the Arab world and one of the world's most feared, currently holds 800 prisoners, including "a very small population of security detainees, of which six claim to be American citizens and two who say they are from the United Kingdom," Karpinski said. Karpinski did not provide further details on the US and UK detainees, saying only that they were under continued investigation by military intelligence. Security detainees - those who attacked or helped carry out attacks against coalition troops - are kept in a separate location at the sprawling, high-walled compound west of Baghdad.
Karpinski said there was a total of 10,000 prisoners and detainees in Iraq. Captured senior members of Saddam's former regime are held at Baghdad's international airport. Next to the 10 cells was the executing ward, and below that was a gas chamber, used if an inmate did not die from hanging. "The inmates in the cells knew that a prisoner was hanged when they heard the bang of iron doors opening underneath the feet of those condemned to death," Karpinski said. During Saddam's regime, the prison was overcrowded with murderers, thieves and rapists along with political prisoners. They would put 100 inmates in one small cell, giving them standing room only. One day, one of Saddam's sons came to the prison and ordered a summary execution of 3,000 prisoners just to ease overcrowding. This was routine," Karpinski said.
Parts of the prison remain under renovation, with Iraqi workers welding, painting and repairing areas that were looted and torched following the US-led invasion of Iraq. The looting also destroyed all records of inmates, making it almost impossible to find out how many people entered the feared prison. A hospital ward, a pharmacy and a dentist's office have been set up, the kitchen and bakery are being restored and more cell blocks are being prepared to receive additional prisoners, who are currently being held in tents inside the compound, which has proved to be fatal in the past.
Last month, mortars were fired from outside the prison, landing on tents housing prisoners, killing six and wounding more than 50. "The mortar attacks are frequent, perhaps four days a week, and they're hard to stop because they are mobile," Karpinski said.
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