Witness: Secret Iraq prison for women and children

By Jane Arraf & Mohammed al-Dulaimy,
REMEMBER WE ALL CARRY RESPONSIBILTY FOR THIS! cjw


Iraq's Muthanna Army base has women and children in a secret prison, says an Iraqi eyewitness. He says some are family members of Al Qaeda suspect and are used to extract confessions.

May 26, 2010

BAGHDAD

There aren't supposed to be any prisons at the Muthanna Iraqi Army base, let alone ones with children in them.

But a member of the Iraqi security services says that as late as mid-May, he saw children playing in a makeshift detention center here.

"I just wish they would take the children out," he says, recalling the cries of an infant and a 3-year-old named Tiba. "I can't even tell my own wife and children what I do."

The Muthanna facility appears to be operating weeks after a separate undisclosed prison on the base, where more than 400 suspects were held and dozens tortured, was closed.

The witness, who is known to be credible, says he risked speaking to a Western publication because he and some colleagues were sickened by seeing women and children detained. He insisted on anonymity.

"To reach the point of detaining women and their children is unacceptable. A woman's honor is Iraqi honor," he says.

He says at least six women and at least eight children were being held, including the wives of two suspected Al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders, Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri. The two women were detained with their children when their husbands were killed in an April air strike.

A Defense Ministry spokesman at the time confirmed that children had been rounded up. Children under the age of 3 are allowed to remain in detention facilities if their mothers have been arrested.

'Bring in his wife'

In some cases, the women were being interrogated as possible suspects, but in others they were being used to try to extract confessions from their husbands. Using threats against women to elicit confessions from male relatives is a practice well-documented by rights groups.

"Four days ago when one of the men wouldn't confess they said, 'Bring in his wife.' They put her in a separate room nearby and beat her so he could hear her screaming," says the witness. "They went back to the man and said, 'We will rape her if you don't confess.' "

The makeshift detention unit is said to be attached to the 54th brigade of the Sixth Iraqi Army Division – a unit that has taken the lead in counterinsurgency operations in Baghdad and increasingly throughout the country. The interrogators from the brigade's intelligence unit said to be threatening the women bypassed the Baghdad Operations Command's central investigations commission to conduct their own interrogations. The Ministry of Defense, its human rights directorate, and the Ministry of Justice declined requests for comment.

The man says he and his colleagues had never seen an international rights group visit the detention center. The one time a Human Rights Ministry employee visited the brigade prison and asked about a missing prisoner, she was asked to leave, he says.

The ministry last month suspended its prison investigations after the political fallout from its revelation of the undeclared detention centers at Muthanna, according to political sources. A spokesman declined an interview, saying they were no longer allowed to talk.

The witness said although the Iraqi Army unit has a joint operations center with US forces, the Iraqis make sure the Americans don't see the torture.

He said that on four occasions he had seen suspects tortured by being hung by handcuffs fixed to an iron bar and administered electric shocks through a black hood connected to wires. The last time was in late April. "When I see all this torture I say to myself, 'What is the difference from Saddam?' If I were under this torture, I would confess to anything just to make it stop."









:: Article nr. 66372 sent on 27-may-2010 02:51 ECT


www.uruknet.info?p=66372

Link: www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0526/Witness-Secret-Iraq-p...
en-and-children

http://uruknet.com/?p=m66372&hd=&size=1&l=e

Views: 41

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

omegamann is now a member of 12160 Social Network
3 hours ago
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Three Must See Movies for Halloween
"cheeki kea Thanks. I watched most of the movie but I'd forgotten until a few minutes into it…"
7 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Three Must See Movies for Halloween
"That's a fine movie menu you've got Doc V. I love the old days theme. Great to view when…"
13 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Three Must See Movies for Halloween

Grab Your Popcorn and Settle In!  If you really want to get in the mood for Halloween and you like…See More
yesterday
Bob of the Family Renner posted photos
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Terror on All Hallows Eve

Chapter IElizabeth was angry. All of her friends were going to be out on Halloween, but her. She…See More
Monday
Jeff favorited Jeff's profile
Monday
Jeff favorited Jeff's profile
Monday
Jeff favorited Doc Vega's profile
Monday
Jeff is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Sunday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Friday
tjdavis posted a video

How Corporations Are Secretly Poisoning Our Food Supply

Dupont and 3M have been secretly poisoning America for decades. PFAs — also known as forever chemicals—are now in our food, water, clothes, and our blood. Th...
Friday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

They Won’t Stop

 The demonically driven left will not stop. Makes no difference how much violence they call for or…See More
Oct 22
Doc Vega posted a blog post

What US Scientist unwittingly helped the Nazis devise the V-2 Missile?

  In the early 1920’s and leading up to World War II German technology outpaces the peace time…See More
Oct 20
tjdavis favorited Sandy's video
Oct 19
tjdavis posted a photo
Oct 19
Christopher Walker is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Oct 19
tjdavis posted videos
Oct 19
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Reflection

"Let's see if this goes past indictment."
Oct 18
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Something Watches From Out there in the Wilderness
"cheeki kea That's very interesting history. So many things about history that go ignored or…"
Oct 18

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted