'Hooded' Abu Ghraib ex-prisoner talks to New York Times

[kpete]

'Hooded' Abu Ghraib ex-prisoner talks to New York Times
RAW STORY
Published: March 10, 2006


Slated for the front page of Saturday's New York Times is an interview with the former Abu Ghraib detainee who was photographed after being forced to stand on top of a cardboard box for hours with electrical wires tied to his outstretched arms, RAW STORY has found.

Ali Shalal Qaissi, along with eight other ex-prisoners, is part of a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Human Rights First against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for the torture and abuse that went on at the Iraqi prison while under his command: Ali et al. v Rumsfeld Consolidated Amended Complaint For Declaratory Relief and Damages.

Excerpts from the forthcoming article by Hassan M. Fattah:

#
Ali Shalal Qaissi's wounds are still raw.

There is the mangled hand, an old injury that became infected by the shackles chafing his skin. There is the slight limp, made worse by days tied in uncomfortable positions. And most of all, there are the nightmares of his nearly six-month ordeal at Abu Ghraib Prison in 2003 and 2004.

Qaissi, 43, was prisoner 151716 of Cellblock 1A. The picture of him standing hooded atop a cardboard box, attached to electrical wires with his arms stretched wide in an eerily prophetic pose, became the indelible symbol of the torture at Abu Ghraib. The U.S. military said Thursday that it would abandon the prison and turn it over to the Iraqi government.

"I never wanted to be famous, especially not in this way," he said, as he sat in an office in Amman. That said, he is now a prisoner advocate who clearly understands the power of the image: It appears on his business card.

Researchers with both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say they have interviewed Qaissi and, along with lawyers suing military contractors in a class-action suit over the abuse, believe that he is the man in the photograph.

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Hooded_Abu_Ghraib_expriso...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/international/middlee...

[demgurl]

1. k & r

[kpete]

2. more...

In one, a young man shudders in fear as a dog menaces him.

"That's Talib," he said. "He was a young Yemeni, a student of the Beaux-Arts School in Baghdad, and was really shaken."

In another, Pfc. Lynndie R. England, who was convicted last September of conspiracy and maltreatment of Iraqi prisoners, poses in front of a line of naked men, a cigarette in her mouth. "That's Jalil, Khalil and Abu Khattab," he said. "They're all brothers, and they're from my neighborhood."

Then there is the picture of Mr. Qaissi himself, standing atop a cardboard box, taken 15 days into his detention. He said he had only recently been given a blanket after remaining naked for days, and had fashioned the blanket into a kind of poncho.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/international/middlee...

[ClayZ]

3. .

[Mnemosyne]

4. My heart keeps breaking. n/t

[mom cat]

5. I am impressed that he can keep fighting. Torture like that can break

people forever.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. K&R Too important to sink. Let's keep this up near the top, people.

[Clark2008]

7. I agree. Much more interesting that the 20th Hillary! thread.

K & R'ed.

[katinmn]

8. I read an interview with him on an Iraqi news web site a few months ago.

and posted it here.

Helping other prisoners is probably the only way he keeps his sanity and finds meaning in life anymore.

[annabanana]

9. I am continually amazed

by the strength of the human spirit and the ability to continue fighting through the most breathtakingly horrific circumstances...

[NastyRiffraff]

10. definitely, K&R

[Blue_Tires]

11. what's he complaining about

doesn't he know freedom is on the march in his country? and we americans have a LOT of freedom to spread around to his heathen kind!

[Swamp Rat]

12. kick and recommended n/t

[Disturbed]

13. Rumsfailed is a War Criminal.

Rumsfailed Admitted to Violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public on TV that when CIA Director Tenet requested that an Iraqi prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an illegal act. Rumsfailed then ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graihib but the prisoner was purposefully not listed at that location, also an illegal act. Rumsfeld also admitted to signing orders for tougher interogation methods which violated the Geneva Conventions.

Rumfailed has commited at least three violations of the Geneva Convention thereby also violations of The Constitution of the USA. Recently it has been found out that even more detainees were "ghost detainees". The fact that Rumsfailed and Tenet have not been charged speaks volumes. If Congress wishes to garner any respect they should move forward with Rep. Rangle's Impeachment Declaration of Rumsfailed and also prosecute Ex. CIA Tenet.

The US, Govt., Congress, and the Justice Dept no longer abide by the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the USA.

(Detainee Dog Attack)

[Swamp Rat]

14. Rumsfeld must be tried for crimes against humanity no matter what.

[Cleita]

15. K & R

[Maru Kitteh]

16. Peace and blessings of God be upon you Ali Shalal Qaissi

Many of us will not rest well until you have justice.