As the Senate passed a measure that now prevents “enemy combats” from having access to legal protections offered by the federal courts in the United States (the “compromise” bill that was passed Tuesday was described as “a scandal” by the Center for Constitutional Rights), new allegations of torture of Iraqi detainees became public. A new report by the ABC news describes how two Iraqi detainees--Thahee Sabbar and Sherzad Khalid--were tortured. They both claim that they were innocent yet were taunted with mock executions, gunshots fired just over their heads, threats of lions being used against them, and various forms of sexual assault and harassment. The Iraqi government has also recently been implicated in the torture and abuse of detainees with the discovery of an underground bunker housing 170 prisoners who were reportedly tortured, prompting calls by both Sunni Iraqis and the international community for an investigation. On Tuesday’s edition of Democracy Now!, former United States Army Interrogation Specialist Tony Lagouranis described the abusive treatment of detainees that he witnessed in Iraq. He describes a number of abusive practices including the use of dogs, sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation, dietary manipulation, and the inducing of hypothermia by dousing prisoners in ice water. The United States has detained more than 83,000 people in its four-year “war on terror” with approximately 14,500 currently in custody, most of whom are being held in Iraq.
Lagouranis also described his experiences in Fallujah during the November 2004 assault, detailing his work identifying over 500 corpses on the streets of Fallujah and Marine estimates that as many as 10,000 people may have died in the assault. In related news on last year’s assault on Fallujah, the Pentagon has now admitted that it used White Phosphorus against people in Iraq, confirming a report by an Italian television station last week. However, independent journalists have now uncovered information confirming the use of White Phosphorus in Fallujah back in April of 2004, a full seven months earlier than previously believe. White Phosphorus is a chemical that burns people’s skin on contact. Yesterday, the British government confirmed that it has used White Phosphorus in Iraq as well.
