By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 12, 2005; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Dec. 11 -- An Iraqi government search of a detention center in Baghdad operated by Interior Ministry special commandos found 13 prisoners who had suffered abuse serious enough to require medical treatment, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday night.
An Iraqi official with firsthand knowledge of the search said that at least 12 of the 13 prisoners had been subjected to "severe torture," including sessions of electric shock and episodes that left them with broken bones.
"Two of them showed me their nails, and they were gone," the official said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
A government spokesman, Laith Kubba, said Sunday night that any findings at the prison would be "subject to an investigation," but he declined to comment on the allegations.
The site, which was searched Thursday, is the second Interior Ministry detention center where cases of prisoner abuse have been confirmed by U.S. and Iraqi officials.
GOI: This has to stop for Iraq to become a full Democracy. It seems like everytime Iraqi's take one step forward in progress they then take 2 steps back. It will most likely take many years before Iraq can have a, "real, functioning, representational Democracy" without scenes like this one. These are the tactics of Saddam Hussein and have to end or civil uprisings will most likely occur.
These two prison abuse incidents would be seen as a huge blow to Democracy if they occurred in America. However, somehow in Iraq we are supposed to feel that these abuses aren't a big deal.
This is wrong thinking.
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3 comments:
What is the connection between prison abuse and democracy? I'm not getting your point.
These two prison abuse incidents would be seen as a huge blow to Democracy if they occurred in America. However, somehow in Iraq we are supposed to feel that these abuses aren't a big deal.
While I admire the spirit of this, UL has a point. Stuff like this and worse happens every day in American prisons, whether it's blue on orange or orange on orange. If one were to make a blind judgment of our society based on what happens on our prisons, I don't think "enlightened democracy" would be words that would come to mind.
Paolo: I DO think that American prison abuse is a blight on our Democracy. We can and must do a lot more to provide more humane conditions for inmates.
In general I think that we HAVE slipped from an enlightened Democracy in many, many ways. Prison abuse is just one of them.
I don't think I'm doing very well at spelling out my opinion and views on this matter so I'll just stop here.
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