Samir25
07-12-04, 15:14
US Detaining Handicapped, Juveniles in Mosul
Source: Islam-Online.net
By Salah Amer, IOL Correspondent
MOSUL, December 4 (IslamOnline.net) - Residents of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul are gripped by fear following successive pre-dawn US raids on homes, which saw the mass and indiscriminate arrest of civilians, including patients with chronic diseases, handicapped and juveniles.
Yasser Diaa, the secretary general of the Mosul-based Islamic Human Rights Organization, told IslamOnline.net Saturday, December 4, that the number of detainees at the airport detention camp doubled in only two weeks time.
Citing a statement released by his, he said more than 97 people were detained in the latest US-backed Iraqi raids on civilian homes in Iraq’s ethnically diverse city last week.
Indiscriminate
The local rights watchdog, which is allowed to visit detention camps, dismissed arrest campaigns as arbitrary and indiscriminate.
Some of the detainees suffer such chronic diseases as diabetes, high-blood pressure, heart problems, ulcers and arthritis, it said.
The group representatives saw several handicapped people in the detention camp, including one-legged detainee kept in a solitary confinement under appalling conditions and icy weather.
The statement also cited the case of four juveniles, who were treated by the US jailers as adult prisoners and even deported to the notorious Abu Gharib prison, the scene of an American sexual abuse scandal which broke into public view in April.
Vanishing Detainees
The Iraqi watchdog also charged that some of the documented detainees failed to show up at regular prison visits and disappeared in unknown circumstances.
The US prison officials said they knew nothing about the vanishing detainees, it added.
In a report released in May, Antonio Taguba, the US Army officer who investigated abuses at the Abu Ghraib, criticized the practice of allowing ghost detainees and hiding them from International Committee of the Red Cross.
A Pentagon spokesman had before admitted that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld personally ordered a secret detention of an Iraqi detainee without giving him an identification number so that he can escape the eyes of ICRC teams.
Humiliating
One Iraqi said his relative was hooded, handcuffed and kicked in front of his wife and children
Hassan Mohammad, 35, told IOL how humiliating and degrading the US-led raids were.
He recalled the arrest of one of his relatives, who was hooded, handcuffed and kicked in front of his wife and children.
Mohammad said the Americans ironically accused his relative of being Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born alleged Al-Qaeda operative in Iraq.
Washington blames phantom Zarqawi for most of attacks on its troops and Iraqi police and security forces.
Mohammad added that the US soldiers later threw his handcuffed relative from a racing truck, leaving him with physical and psychological scars.
Ghanem Al-Jabouri, another Iraqi, accused US soldiers of holding several residents as human shields.
He said the occupation forces take cover in schools and government institutions to evade resistance attacks.
Other residents complained their children are terrified by the deafening sound of US helicopter, always flying at low altitudes.
Deserted Weddings
The general gloomy and risky situation in the city has even had its toll at weddings.
Extended curfews starting from 17:00 p.m. forces people to hold wedding ceremonies at midday.
Many of the invited guests, however, prefer to stay home because life is too precious to take the risk and go out.
A US air strike killed at least 12 people Friday, October 8, in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, with a wedding party bearing the brunt.
Also, more than 40 people, including several children, were killed on Wednesday, May 19, US helicopters bombarded a decorated wedding vehicle and guests arriving for the celebrations.
The tragic incident occurred Wednesday, May 19, when U.S. helicopters killed more than 40 people, including several children, during a wedding party in western Iraq.
Many Mosul residents believe that a massive US offensive is looming large especially after Gen. Foliyah Rashid, the commander of a special force called in from Baghdad last month to control the city, said the imminent attack was aimed at flushing out resistance pockets.
People were scared off by fear and panic from schools and places of work despite reassuring calls from Iraqi officials in the city.
Source: Islam-Online.net
By Salah Amer, IOL Correspondent
MOSUL, December 4 (IslamOnline.net) - Residents of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul are gripped by fear following successive pre-dawn US raids on homes, which saw the mass and indiscriminate arrest of civilians, including patients with chronic diseases, handicapped and juveniles.
Yasser Diaa, the secretary general of the Mosul-based Islamic Human Rights Organization, told IslamOnline.net Saturday, December 4, that the number of detainees at the airport detention camp doubled in only two weeks time.
Citing a statement released by his, he said more than 97 people were detained in the latest US-backed Iraqi raids on civilian homes in Iraq’s ethnically diverse city last week.
Indiscriminate
The local rights watchdog, which is allowed to visit detention camps, dismissed arrest campaigns as arbitrary and indiscriminate.
Some of the detainees suffer such chronic diseases as diabetes, high-blood pressure, heart problems, ulcers and arthritis, it said.
The group representatives saw several handicapped people in the detention camp, including one-legged detainee kept in a solitary confinement under appalling conditions and icy weather.
The statement also cited the case of four juveniles, who were treated by the US jailers as adult prisoners and even deported to the notorious Abu Gharib prison, the scene of an American sexual abuse scandal which broke into public view in April.
Vanishing Detainees
The Iraqi watchdog also charged that some of the documented detainees failed to show up at regular prison visits and disappeared in unknown circumstances.
The US prison officials said they knew nothing about the vanishing detainees, it added.
In a report released in May, Antonio Taguba, the US Army officer who investigated abuses at the Abu Ghraib, criticized the practice of allowing ghost detainees and hiding them from International Committee of the Red Cross.
A Pentagon spokesman had before admitted that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld personally ordered a secret detention of an Iraqi detainee without giving him an identification number so that he can escape the eyes of ICRC teams.
Humiliating
One Iraqi said his relative was hooded, handcuffed and kicked in front of his wife and children
Hassan Mohammad, 35, told IOL how humiliating and degrading the US-led raids were.
He recalled the arrest of one of his relatives, who was hooded, handcuffed and kicked in front of his wife and children.
Mohammad said the Americans ironically accused his relative of being Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born alleged Al-Qaeda operative in Iraq.
Washington blames phantom Zarqawi for most of attacks on its troops and Iraqi police and security forces.
Mohammad added that the US soldiers later threw his handcuffed relative from a racing truck, leaving him with physical and psychological scars.
Ghanem Al-Jabouri, another Iraqi, accused US soldiers of holding several residents as human shields.
He said the occupation forces take cover in schools and government institutions to evade resistance attacks.
Other residents complained their children are terrified by the deafening sound of US helicopter, always flying at low altitudes.
Deserted Weddings
The general gloomy and risky situation in the city has even had its toll at weddings.
Extended curfews starting from 17:00 p.m. forces people to hold wedding ceremonies at midday.
Many of the invited guests, however, prefer to stay home because life is too precious to take the risk and go out.
A US air strike killed at least 12 people Friday, October 8, in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, with a wedding party bearing the brunt.
Also, more than 40 people, including several children, were killed on Wednesday, May 19, US helicopters bombarded a decorated wedding vehicle and guests arriving for the celebrations.
The tragic incident occurred Wednesday, May 19, when U.S. helicopters killed more than 40 people, including several children, during a wedding party in western Iraq.
Many Mosul residents believe that a massive US offensive is looming large especially after Gen. Foliyah Rashid, the commander of a special force called in from Baghdad last month to control the city, said the imminent attack was aimed at flushing out resistance pockets.
People were scared off by fear and panic from schools and places of work despite reassuring calls from Iraqi officials in the city.