Ex-prisoners detail 'torture'

2004-05-14 11:27

Abu Ghraib - Prisoners freed from Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison Friday complained they had been tortured by US guards, including being hung by their hands from walls and made to carry heavy loads.

The former inmates were part of a batch of 315 prisoners scheduled to be freed from the jail west of Baghdad, at the centre of the prisoner abuse scandal which has deeply embarrassed Washington.

Abu Mustafa, 24, said he was arrested 10 months ago by US forces who accused him of being a leader of a terrorist group.

"They kept me in solitary confinement for six days," he said. "They hung me by my hands from the wall for five hours.

Sex in front of me

"One day when I was in the hospital, a soldier came in and asked if I was a Muslim and then started having sex with another (female) soldier right in front of me."

Mohammed Zadian, 45, who said he was detained for four months, said he was also hung from a wall by his hands for hours while he was "asked to confess that I attacked the American forces".

He added: "I saw them attach electric wires to the tongue and the genitals of my cousin. They also used to give me a box of food and made me carry it around for six hours without putting it down."

Mohammed Khazal Al-Moussawi, 31, who was held for eight months, said he went into the prison weighing 117kg, and came out more than 30kg lighter.

"One of the soldiers told the prisoners that if it was in his hands, he would kill all the Iraqis," he said.

The allegations could not be independently verified.

- AFP