Thursday, May 28, 2009

Old ghosts

There seems to be explicit reasons why Obama backtracked  and planned not to release the additional torture photos from Abu Ghraib... 

At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee. Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube. Another apparently shows a female prisoner having her clothing forcibly removed to expose her breasts.

.. Among the graphic statements, which were later released under US freedom of information laws, is that of Kasim Mehaddi Hilas in which he says: “I saw [name of a translator] fucking a kid, his age would be about 15 to 18 years. The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets. Then when I heard screaming I climbed the door because on top it wasn’t covered and I saw [name] who was wearing the military uniform, putting his dick in the little kid’s ass…. and the female soldier was taking pictures.” The translator was an American Egyptian who is now the subject of a civil court case in the US. Three detainees, including the alleged victim, refer to the use of a phosphorescent tube in the sexual abuse and another to the use of wire, while the victim also refers to part of a policeman’s “stick” all of which were apparently photographed.

1 comment:

Tree said...

If these allegations are true then I am more ashamed and horrified than I was before I read about them.

I recently read an opinion piece in the NYTimes stating the photos should be released so that Americans will know what was done in the name of our country. The author compared this to Allied troops forcing the Germans to walk through the Concentration Camps. The author has a point but I tend to think there will be many people in our country who will not care and who will still think torture is acceptable. In fact, this is the case already. There are too many in our violent culture who lack compassion or integrity.