[lit-ideas] House of Horrors
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 06:10:39 EST
This is today's post from Riverbend, the gal in Baghdad. I don't understand
what the Iraqis are doing, why this is going on... but the line re. crying
"fire" instead of "rape" in NY, equating to crying "terrorist cell" in Iraq,
is, well....... interesting. If anyone cares to enlighten me re. why the
Iraqis are torturing their own, I would certainly be interested.
Julie Krueger
<<Friday, November 18, 2005
House of Horrors...
_The talk of the town is the torture house they recently found in Jadriya.
_ (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051115/ts_nm/iraq_abuse_dc_1)
The whole world heard about the one in Jadriya, recently raided by the
Americans. Jadriya was once one of the best areas in Baghdad. It's an area on
the
river and is special in that it's greener, and cleaner, than most areas.
Baghdads largest university, Baghdad University, is located in Jadriya (with a
campus in another area). Jadriya had some of the best shops and restaurants-
not to mention some of Baghdad's most elegant homes...? and apparently, now, a
torture house.
We hear constantly about these torture dungeons. Right after the war,
certain areas became infamous for them. The world knows them as 'torture
houses'
for the obvious reasons- they were once ordinary homes, and now they've become
torture centers for suspects and innocents alike. The Iraqi government
conveniently calls them 'detention centers' and the Iraqi Ministry of Interior
oversees and funds them.
One area which was well-known for its torture houses immediately after the
war was Sadir City in Baghdad. Except they weren't called torture houses back
then. The people who ran them called them 'ma7akim' or 'courts'. They would
bring 'suspects' in for interrogation- often ordinary citizens- and beat and
whip them for various confessions involving accusations and alleged crimes. A
'Sayid' would then come in and sentence the culprit- the sentence would
sometimes involve cutting off a hand or a foot and at other times it might be
death. We heard this from an aunts neighbor who was mistakenly taken in and
beaten as a suspected former security agent. His family connections with
influential Shia clerics in the area were the only things that got him out
alive-
bruised and broken- but alive.
These torture houses have existed since the beginning of the occupation.
While it is generally known that SCIRI is behind them, other religious parties
are not innocent. The Americans know they exist- why the sudden shock and
outrage? This is hardly news for Americans in the Green Zone. The timing is
quite
interesting- it shouldn't matter that this raid came immediately after the
whole white phosphorous story came out, but the Pentagon and American military
have proven to be the ultimate masters of diversion.
Only last year in an area called Ghazaliya, one such house was discovered.
It was on a smaller scale though. My cousin lives in Ghazaliya and he said
that when the Americans got inside, they found several corpses and a man
hanging
from the ceiling on a makeshift noose. The neighbors had tried to get the
Americans to check the house for months- no one bothered. They finally raided
it because they got information from someone in the area that it was an
insurgents hiding place. I read once that in New York, if a woman is being
raped,
she should scream 'fire' instead of 'rape' because no one would come to save
her if she was screaming 'rape'. That's the way it is with Iraqi torture
houses- the only way they'll check it is if you tell them it's a terrorist
cell.
And another thing- you know when they say 'men dressed in Ministry of
Interior uniforms' or 'men in official cars claiming to be from the Ministry
of
Interior', etc. when describing some horror committed by the new Iraqi
security
forces in the news? Here's a thought: they aren't 'claiming' and they aren't
in costume- they actually ARE from the Ministry of Interior! One would think
they'd do this covertly so as not to enrage Iraqis or humanitarian
organisations, except that it doesn't matter to them because SCIRI and Da'awa
aren't
out to win hearts and minds. They have American favor- what more does one need
in the New Iraq?
For over a year corpses have been turning up all over Baghdad. Corpses of
people who are taken from their homes in the middle of the night (lately
they've been more brazen- they just do everything in the light of day), and
turn up
dead somewhere. That isn't as disturbing as the reports about the bodies-
the one I can't get out of my head is that many of the corpses are found with
holes in the skull left by an electric drill.
I guess the lucky ones go to Abu Ghraib...?
And it's not only 'suspected insurgents' who disappear- Iraqi security
forces have been known to raid complete areas and detain any males from the
ages
of 12 to 60- especially in Sunni areas. Those 'suspected terrorists' that are
rounded up and taken away- you know where they disappear to now.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabr (SCIRI
Thug-Made-Government-Official-In-Italian-Suits) is mollifying Iraqis with this
little gem,
_...the group included Shiites as well as Sunnis...?_
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_051117130019;_ylt=AtDZvu729Ao7YIdiGKt1NNRX6GM
A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)
I'm sure we can all sleep better at night with the knowledge that
SCIRI/Da'awa torturers don't discriminate according to religious sect- under
the new
constitution, American military guidance, and the blessings of the Pentagon-
all Iraqis will be tortured equally.>>
Other related posts:
