Testimony of an Iraqi Minor Detained and Mistreated by US

Human Rights Testimonies from Iraq

#1 - Testimony of an Iraqi Minor Detained and Mistreated by US Forces
http://www.cpt.org/iraq/testimonies/testimony_1.htm

The following statement was recorded by CPT members Le Anne Clausen and
David Milne in a neighborhood heavily affected by US house raids in Baghdad.
The family has asked that the 16 year old youth who gave the testimony not
be identified because his relatives are still detained.

"At 2:30am, US troops came to our house, and ordered our entire family
outside. They ransacked the house searching for something, but they didn't
tell us what they wanted. They broke the locks to our cabinet [a large
storage chest and display case along one wall of the front room] and threw
the contents onto the floor, even though our father gave them the cabinet
key so they wouldn't have to do this. They took our money and a gold wedding
necklace belonging to my mother. My father, cousin, older brother, and I
were tied and taken away. We were not told why we were being taken."
"We were taken to the soldiers' military base at a palace within this
district and kept in a small dark room. We were tied at our wrists with
plastic ties behind our backs the entire night. In the morning, we were put
out into the sunlight, as a type of punishment. The soldiers were verbally
abusive towards us. We asked for shade, but the soldiers refused. We were
squatting in the sun all day. [Temperatures at the time were 110-120F]. When
I was taken, I was only wearing my underwear because I was sleeping. I was
embarrassed. These were my only clothes during the time I was in custody."
"The first day, our hands were still tied behind our back with the plastic
ties. Because of this, we were unable to drink any water. We explained this
to the soldiers, and they refused to re-tie us so we could drink. We asked
if just one of us could be re-tied with his hands in front of him so that he
could help the rest of us to drink. The soldiers refused. The soldiers
re-tied us with the plastic ties in front of us on the next day."
"The water they gave us for drinking was also kept out in the sun with us.
This way it was too hot to drink. Another day I asked a soldier for water,
because I hadn't had anything to drink for the entire day in the sun. He
beat me on my back and chest, while another soldier kicked me in the back.
Both were verbally abusive towards me during the beating."
"I was forced once to drink a strange kind of juice. I didn't like it, so I
said, no, thank you. The soldiers then put the bottle in my mouth and forced
me to swallow all of it."
"We were treated like animals. The soldiers would grab us by the head and
shove us in the direction they wanted us to move. When we were beaten, I
couldn't distinguish when it was from a baton and when it was with fists. We
were forced to squat much of the time."
"One night my 18-year-old brother and I were kept in an open-air passageway,
but we didn't know how large it was because we were blindfolded. We heard a
tank approaching us. It was so close, the ground was shaking beneath us. The
sound was deafening. We were screaming to each other and the guards, we were
sure we would be run over and executed. Then the tank passed."
[The son asked his mother to leave the room so he can tell the CPTers
something privately].
"My brother asked for some water. The guard gagged him and began beating him
around his mouth until blood started flowing from his mouth. My brother
screamed in pain. We also screamed in protest, and to encourage him to
scream so they would stop this abuse. We were then beaten also, for advising
him to scream. We were beaten in the neck, back, and behind." [The boy
demonstrated how and where he was beaten. He indicated that his buttocks
were held apart and he was kicked in the anus]. "It is because of this
beating that my father is now suffering from a heart condition."
"I was released wearing only my underwear and forced to walk back to my home
in broad daylight. I was humiliated. Also, everyone thought from my dress
that I had been caught stealing. I was also badly sunburned from my time in
detention without shade."
"The officers told me upon my release, Don't tell anyone about what happened
here, or we'll come pick you up again. I was released at 3pm, and told to
come back at 4pm to care for the other detainees - if they wanted clothes or
food, I was to get these things for them. I protested, saying, 'This is not
my duty.' A woman soldier screamed at me, 'Shut up! Shut up!' I left, and
didn't return until the next day. At that time, the soldiers refused to let
me into the base. I returned home."
"I am in shock now from this treatment, and I can never forget it until I
die. When I got out, I behaved as though I was crazy, like I was lost."
The boys mother told the CPT workers, "When my son first came home, he was
abnormal. We couldn't control him, he was completely changed. He has
nightmares every night, and wakes up shaking and screaming."
A friend of the family, who was present during CPT's interview with the
family, is a local human rights activist and attended a human rights
conference organized by the Coalition Provisional Authority one month
earlier. He said he raised this case with the sponsoring officials. The CPA
sponsoring officials warned him not to discuss cases like these when the
conference was over. The officials did not give any reason for their order.
The mother said, "The US has a hypocritical policy. They speak all the time
about human rights, but they don't believe in it themselves. Since this
happened, I am lost now. I don't know what I can do."
The family feels that the detentions were arbitrary. No soldier has returned
to their home to tell them why they have been arrested or what they were
searching for on the night the soldiers broke into their home. No receipts
were issued for the money and jewelry confiscated and it is unlikely they
will ever get these back, or receive compensation for the broken furniture.
The family was only able to get information about their relatives' locations
through lists provided by Christian Peacemaker Teams working with the mosque
in their district. The three detained relatives still remain incarcerated at
various prison camps throughout Iraq.