Torture in "Democratic Kurdistan" by Layla Anwar

Posted on Tuesday, June 17, 2008
in Arab Woman Blues:
http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2008/06/torture-in-democratic-kurdistan.html

Who would have thought that these "poor, oppressed, repressed, exploited, gassed..." Kurds, would resort to such a thing as Torture. But yes, they do.

And this is NOT the first report on Torture in " Democratic Kurdistan".

Two security organs in Suleimaniya are responsible for extracting information through sadistic methods -- the Ass'aich and the Zanaree, security and intelligence bodies. The latter is a branch of the PUK party - the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

According to this article, news are circulating in Suleimaniya and elsewhere in the Kurdish regions, and it is the talk of the town, from the street cafés, to family gatherings to the daily press in "Kurdistan", that torture is wide spread in Kurdish prisons.

Several detainees were interviewed and they all corroborated that the following methods were used - detainees are stripped naked, severe beatings with metals chairs, metal rods, and water hoses.

Rape of the detainee and the female members of the detainee's family.

Immersion in ice cold water and electrocution with cables while immersed. Placing huge blocs of ice on the naked detainee's chest for hours. Solitary confinement in a toilet full of excrements for days. Loud music for weeks on end, day and night.

The tying of hands from behind the back, the tying of feet and suspending the detainees from the ceiling and last but not least, the use of what was described as a "retarded crazy man" by the name of "Daniel", who looks like a Rambo. Huge stature, bulky and full of muscles. "Daniel" was a detainee himself who went mad during his torture sessions and is now utilized by the Kurdish security forces. From the testimonies, this "guy" Daniel has lost all sense of humanity and has become like a robot executing orders. His only requirement is to be fed on a regular basis.

One of the detainees adds that he was so severely tortured that he started internally hemorrhaging which promptly required hospitalization. After his hospital stay and once given the adequate medical care, he was returned to prison to endure more torture, until he finally admitted to a crime he did not commit.

Needless to add, none of these detainees were charged with anything and had no trial.The irony of the matter is that the advisor to the minister of human rights affairs, Mansur Hakeem, admitted that abuses, brutality, torture and violations of human rights do take place in Kurdish prisons but he said "unfortunately, our powers are very limited and we have asked that such practices cease, to no avail..." (full article in Arabic here)

Don't you just love "Kurdish democracy" -- American style ?!