The following is an archived copy of a message sent to the CASI Analysis List run by Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq (CASI).
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [CASI Homepage]
[ This message has been sent to you via the CASI-analysis mailing list ]
This is an automated compilation of submissions to newsclippings@casi.org.uk
Articles for inclusion in this daily news mailing should be sent to newsclippings@casi.org.uk.
Please include a full reference to the source of the article.
Today's Topics:
1. Signs of Torture Lead Family to Demand Answers (Mark Parkinson)
2. Fwd: Compared with the crimes at Fallujah, the torture of prisoners is trivial
(CharlieChimp1@aol.com)
--__--__--
Message: 1
From: "Mark Parkinson" <mark44@DELETETHISmyrealbox.com>
To: newsclippings@casi.org.uk
Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 00:48:57 +0100
Subject: Signs of Torture Lead Family to Demand Answers
Now with the recent disclosures, perhaps proper procedures will be
put in place to track and account for prisoners and their treatment.
[Iraq Dispatches]
Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 16:29:48 -0400
After days of research in Baghdad and stateside, The NewStandard is
proud to present Iraq correspondent Dahr Jamail's thorough report on
the story of Sadiq Zoman, who apparently underwent torture while in
US Army custody. The NewStandard and Dahr Jamail intend to follow up
on this case, as well as pursue some of the hundreds of others being
talked about all over Iraq. Public pressure and demands for answers
may be the key to forcing explanations, accountability and changes in
how soldiers and Marines treat Iraqi prisoners.
If you find this story compelling, please forward this article
widely, or use the =93send-to-friend=94 feature on our website to pass it
along with the moving graphics that accompany the story. We are
trying to push this story far and wide as we believe the questions it
raises deserve honest answers, as much as we believe the world
deserves to know the Iraqi side of the occupation story.
Telltale Signs of Torture Lead Family to Demand Answers Wife,
Daughters Tell of Iraqi Man Discharged from U.S. Custody in Coma a
NewStandard feature article by Dahr Jamail web version (with photos):
newstandardnews.net/content/?action=3Dshow_item&itemid=3D275
Baghdad, May 4 =96 Not all evidence of military personnel mistreating
Iraqis held in US custody come from leaks within the American- and
British-run detention facilities. In many cases, such as that of
Sadiq Zoman, 57, who last year entered US custody healthy but left in
a vegetative state, the story originates with family members
desperate to share their loved one's story with anyone willing to
listen.
American soldiers detained Zoman at his residence in Kirkuk on July
21, 2003 when they raided the Zoman family home in search of weapons
and, apparently, to arrest Zoman himself.
More than a month later, on August 23, US soldiers dropped Zoman off,
already comatose, at a hospital in Tikrit. Although he was unable to
recount his story, his body bore telltale signs of torture: what
appear to be point burns on his skin, bludgeon marks on the back of
his head, a badly broken thumb, electrical burns on the soles of his
feet. Additionally, family members say they found whip marks across
his back and more electrical burns on his genitalia.
The NewStandard has obtained photographs taken by staff at the
Salahadeen Hospital in Tikrit, footage shot by an Al Jazeera camera
crew shortly after Zoman's arrival there, as well as documents
tracing some of the Iraqi man's journey through his captivity and
then through the civilian medical establishment.
According to the Army paperwork, the only identifying information
provided to Iraqi medical personnel upon Zoman's transfer from US
military to Iraqi civilian care was an incorrect name.A transfer form
signed by Colonel Donald M. Campbell, Jr., 4th Infantry Division (4th
ID) chief of staff.states that Zoman, considered a =93security
detainee,=94 was to be transferred to a Combat Support Hospital, and
then be returned to 4th ID custody =93if he recovers.=94
The form provided no information as to where he had been picked up,
no address and no other personally identifying information. His
family claimed that when Zoman was initially detained, American
soldiers had taken all of his personal papers and identification.
US Army documentation and interviews obtained so far also lack
details of what happened to Zoman while in US Army custody for
interrogation.
The Zoman family has been able to reconstruct a rough story of
Sadiq's incarceration from eyewitness accounts related by neighbors
who were detained at the same time. They say Zoman was first held at
the Kirkuk Airport Detention Center, then transferred still healthy
to Al-Ka'ad, a school the Army had converted into a detention
facility. On August 6, witnesses said, he was moved to a base in
Tikrit where they say he was beaten.
Major Josslyn Aberle, Public Affairs Officer at the 4th Infantry
Division, said that Zoman's injuries were not inflicted by soldiers
from the 4th ID or other Army units involved in capturing and holding
Zoman. While not immediately able to trace Zoman's full history while
in US custody, she said the types of injuries described by Zoman's
family, doctors and photographs =93just absolutely would not be
tolerated=94 by the military.
Aberle continued, =93Throughout our task force, the few incidents of
detainee mistreatment were investigated immediately and those
soldiers involved were punished underneath the uniform code of
military justice. In one case that [led to] a soldier being court
martialed. When we found out about any types of mistreatment of
detainees or Iraqi citizens, any allegations were treated seriously
and investigated immediately because that type of behavior was not
tolerated.=94 Aberle said none of those cases of detainee mistreatment
was related to the Zoman case, nor did they involve beatings.
According to further US military documentation, on August 11, Mr.
Zoman was transferred to the 28th Combat Support Hospital, where he
was treated by Lieutentant Colonel Michael C. Hodges, M.D.
Lt. Col. Hodges' medical report listed the primary diagnoses of
Zoman's condition as hypoxic brain injury (brain damage caused by
lack of oxygen) =93with persistent vegetative state,=94 myocardial
infarction (heart attack), and heat stroke. The same medical report
did not mention any bruises, lash marks, head injury, burn marks or
other signs Iraqi doctors said they found on Zoman's body upon his
arrival at Tikrit hospital nearly two weeks later.
The report said previous care providers had verbally stated, upon
transferring Zoman to the Combat Support Hospital, that Zoman had
been conscious enough to complain of =93chest pain that radiated into
his arm=94 earlier that day. At that point, the report says, Zoman was
treated with a nitroglycerine tablet and intravenous fluids before
being =93returned to the prison population,=94 only to be brought back to
medics later, =93shaking and unresponsive.=94
Asked to comment on the treatment described in the medical report,
physician Jules Marsh of Takoma, WA pointed out numerous concerns
with the treatment Zoman received in military custody. =93The fact that
they administered nitroglycerine indicates that they were at least
suspicious his chest pain was of cardiac origin,=94 Dr. Marsh said.
=93The fact that it responded to the nitroglycerine certainly raises
that suspicion. With the possible exception that the patient has a
history of stable angina, which isn't indicated in the report, this
should have prompted a further workup on an emergency basis.=94
Regarding medical treatment afforded Iraqi detainees in custody,
Major Aberle said, =93There's no difference in the care that a detainee
receives than the care a US soldier receives.=94
The medical report of Lt. Col. Hodges concluded with a statement that
was later upheld by Iraqi doctors in Baghdad: =93This patient will need
extensive rehabilitation and physical therapy but he, unfortunately,
has less than 1% chance of any meaningful neurological recovery at
this time.=94
According to documentation, on August 23, after two weeks of care at
the Combat Support Hospital, the Army transferred Zoman from the
Combat Support Hospital to the civilian Salahadeen Hospital in
Tikrit.
The Zoman family found Sadiq there on September 4, 2003, only because
the Red Crescent of Tikrit had posted photos of him on buses around
Tikrit in hopes someone would recognize him. Remarkably, a friend saw
one of the pictures and contacted the family.
Zoman has nine daughters; the oldest is 32 and the youngest 15. He
was the assistant manager of a hospital in Kirkuk. Zoman appears to
have been a member of the Ba'ath party. Under the Saddam Hussein
regime, government administration jobs were only available to people
who joined the Ba'ath party.
Rheem Zoman, the 19 year-old daughter of Sadiq, spoke frankly about
her father and his condition. =93I was horrified,=94 she said of his
bittersweet return to his worried family. =93He had whip marks all
across his back and electrical burn marks all over his body.=94
The alleged mistreatment of Sadiq Zoman while in US custody came as
no surprise to his friends and neighbors. Some of them had returned
after having been abducted by US forces with their own stories of
terrifying and heartbreaking ordeals.
And after a year of occupation, stories like Zoman's may come as no
surprise to the American public, now that evidence of torture
presently receives mainstream attention in the wake of revelations by
CBS, The Mirror and The New Yorker of widespread abuses taking place
inside US- and British-run Iraqi prisons.
But with untold thousands of prisoners held at least temporarily at
military bases throughout Iraq, cases like that of Sadiq Zoman
suggest the problem may extend beyond the major holding facilities to
more remote stations. There unit commanders and military counter-
intelligence personnel hold and interrogate Iraqis even before many
of the detainees reach prison facilities like the now-infamous Abu
Ghraib prison.
Zoman's family said he was in perfect health before US soldiers took
him away. They further insist no firearms, bombs, or other
incriminating evidence was ever found by the search that accompanied
Zoman's capture by US troops. They said that when US soldiers entered
their home to detain Zoman the front door was smashed in, furniture
broken and torn apart, and money, gold and jewelry looted by the
troops.
The Army has so far offered no explanation of why the Zoman home was
raided or the reason for Zoman's capture.
Sadiq Zoman remains completely unresponsive. His family cares for him
in a stark home nearly devoid of furnishings, situated in the Al-Dora
neighborhood of Baghdad. The family moved there from Kirkuk last fall
in order to facilitate better care and conditions for Zoman. The
family has sold nearly everything that remained after the Army raid
to purchase food and medical supplies. Entire rooms in their new
Baghdad home are completely empty since nearly all their furnishings
have been sold off.
None of the Zoman daughters has work, owing to the skyrocketed post-
war unemployment situation. Sadiq Zoman himself has no pension, since
he was a government employee.
Hashimi Zoman, Sadiq's wife, standing over her comatose husband with
a paper fan to cool him, remarked, =93We make his food with a blender
because it must be liquid. But with no electricity there is no
blender, so no food for him at times.=94 The family keeps electrical
fans over Sadiq's bed, but when the power cuts, they switch to
laborious manual cooling to fend off the mid-day heat.
Daughter Rheem said, =93You see our situation. We often don't have
electricity, only six hours per day, so we take turns fanning him to
keep him cool.=94
The family of Sadiq Zoman says they have received no explanation, nor
any compensation for his situation from either the US military or the
US-run Coalition Provisional Authority.
Major Aberle said the 4th Infantry Division, now back at Fort Hood,
Texas, maintained that Iraqi detainees are treated well because of
the need to establish credibility among the Iraqi people. =93Building
the trust, building the relationships between the Iraqis and
coalition forces =97 that is so critical. When you have an instance of
a detainee being allegedly abused or treated improperly, that makes
us no different than the former regime.=94
Daughter Rheem stated, =93My father is a good man who helped so many
people in our community. Why have they done this to him? Can you tell
me? Everyone who knows him can say that he did so many good things to
help people.=94
With tears in her eyes, Hashima Zoman added, =93Is it fair for any
man's family to be made to suffer like this? Is it right that his
daughters must see him like this? Our lives will never be the same
again, no matter what happens.=94
[NewStandard editor Brian Dominick contributed to this story]
----------------------------------------------
Dahr Jamail is Baghdad correspondent for The NewStandard. He is an
Alaskan devoted to covering the untold stories from occupied Iraq.
You can help Dahr continue his crucial work in Iraq by making
donations. For more information or to donate to Dahr, visit
newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches .
Mark Parkinson
Bodmin
Cornwall
--__--__--
Message: 2
From: CharlieChimp1@DELETETHISaol.com
Date: Wed, 5 May 2004 11:18:06 EDT
Subject: Fwd: Compared with the crimes at Fallujah, the torture of prisoners is trivial
To: newsclippings@casi.org.uk
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
In a message dated 05/05/04 12:38:49 GMT Daylight Time, Charlie Chimp 1
writes:
>
> 30, Smithy Drive,
> Ashford, Kent
> TN23 3NS
>
> 5th May,2004 01233 500229
>
> Dear Sir,
>
> I think the article 'I saw our failure through the bars of Abu Ghraib' by
> Simon Jenkins is excellent. The witch hunt of US/UK troops who have abused and
> sometimes killed Iraqi prisoners palls into insignificance in comparison with
> the slaughter at Fallujah and multiple other crimes by our political and
> military leaders. It is Bush and Blair who have set the scene for this killing
> and it is Bush and Blair who should be held accountable.
>
> Our leaders must be forcibly reminded that all human life is intensely
> precious, even Arab life. The casual racism which enables Bush and Blair, and in
> his turn, Sharon to dismiss Arab deaths as 'collateral' must make all of us
> rise up in protest. It isn't Baghdad that needs regime change. It is London and
> Washington and Jerusalem.
>
> Yours faithfully,
>
> Christopher Leadbeater
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-1098486,00.html
From: CharlieChimp1@aol.com
Full-name: Charlie Chimp 1
Date: Wed, 5 May 2004 07:38:49 EDT
Subject: Compared with the crimes at Fallujah, the torture of prisoners is trivial
To: letters@thetimes.co.uk
X-Plaintext: Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
30, Smithy Drive,
Ashford, Kent
TN23 3NS
5th May,2004 01233 500229
Dear Sir,
I think the article 'I saw our failure through the bars of Abu Ghraib' by
Simon Jenkins is excellent. The witch hunt of US/UK troops who have abused and
sometimes killed Iraqi prisoners palls into insignificance in comparison with
the slaughter at Fallujah and multiple other crimes by our political and
military leaders. It is Bush and Blair who have set the scene for this killing and it
is Bush and Blair who should be held accountable.
Our leaders must be forcibly reminded that all human life is intensely
precious, even Arab life. The casual racism which enables Bush and Blair, and in his
turn, Sharon to dismiss Arab deaths as 'collateral' must make all of us rise
up in protest. It isn't Baghdad that needs regime change. It is London and
Washington and Jerusalem.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Leadbeater
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-1098486,00.html
End of casi-news Digest
_______________________________________
Sent via the CASI-analysis mailing list
To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-analysis
All postings are archived on CASI's website at http://www.casi.org.uk