Yet another rule broken by the coalition terrorists.
At least 20 Iraqi prisoners of war, including civilians, said they had been tortured by British and US troops in central and southern Iraq (news - web sites), a spokesman for International Human Rights group Amnesty International said.
These are people who fought for Saddam, I don't give their word much credit.
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*Originally posted by underthedome: *
These are people who fought for Saddam, I don't give their word much credit.
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Do you want US military to make a press release for you to believe?
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*Originally posted by underthedome: *
These are people who fought for Saddam, I don't give their word much credit.
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So you'd rather believe a nation who lies to their own people and stages a hollywood rescue?
weapons have changed but not the ways of war
same anicient ways
torture prisoners of war
loot the fallen city
So you believe anything an Iraqi solider fighting for Saddam says, why is that?
Re: Iraqi POW's tortured
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Originally posted by Fret Wizard: *
**At least 20 Iraqi prisoners of war, including civilians, said they had been tortured by British and US troops in central and southern Iraq, a spokesman for International Human Rights group Amnesty International said.
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*
It is quite possible some of them could be conscripts, and married. They may have been forced to fight - the only other option being that they be killed for refusing, leaving behind a widow and children. Who knows what their reasons were.
If the allegations are not true, then it is a simple matter of laying down the evidence to the public and publicly refuting HRW's claims. Nothing more to it. The longer Powell refuses to comment on this issue, the more suspicious the US government inevitably appears.
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*Originally posted by underthedome: *
So you believe anything an Iraqi solider fighting for Saddam says, why is that?
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just like american's are desperately seeking cooperation from these same iraqi solders and government ex-officials regarding WMD. if they are willing to listen and believe them as long as they say what USA want them to say then why not believe in these iraqi solders? :-)
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*Originally posted by EntityParadigm: *
just like american's are desperately seeking cooperation from these same iraqi solders and government ex-officials regarding WMD. if they are willing to listen and believe them as long as they say what USA want them to say then why not believe in these iraqi solders? :-)
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Iraqi soldiers are only worth listening when they tell about "drums filled with chemical weapon buried somewhere just 1 minute before the bombing started".
Re: Re: Iraqi POW's tortured
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Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
*
. The longer Powell refuses to comment on this issue, the more suspicious the US government inevitably appears.
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*"Boumedouha acknowledged that Amnesty International had not presented any of the claims to British or US forces for any response." *
Re: Re: Re: Iraqi POW's tortured
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Originally posted by underthedome: *
*"Boumedouha acknowledged that Amnesty International had not presented any of the claims to British or US forces for any response." **
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There was a thread a few months back posted in this Forum, that included a letter from HRW's executive director, Kenneth Roth, who had issued a press release stating that HRW was concerned that the US had obtained some of its intelligence information via the torture of prisoners, and/or by sending some prisoners to governments who experienced no qualms in engaging in torture practices. HRW specifically requested a reply from the US. There was no reply given to them by any official of the US government. Back then, i had argued that if they had nothing to hide - all Powell had to do was publically refute Roth's statements, present their side of the story, and issue a public, detailed response to HRW's letter.
As of yet, none of the above has been forthcoming.
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*Originally posted by underthedome: *
These are people who fought for Saddam, I don't give their word much credit.
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sometimes people are forced to fight for something they don't believe in.
The U.S. denounces the use of torture. Have prisoners been turned over to other countries for interrogation, it's probable that this has happened on occasion when national security is thought to be gravely threaten. The threat of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons being used by terrorists has forced countries to have a " do first, ask later" approach in some cases. Is it wrong to do? Is it wrong not to do it if you believe that thousands of lives are at risk if you don't? It’s a complicated question. I see a difference in torturing an enemy if it’s going to save lives than torturing an enemy merely as a punishment.
Re: Re: Iraqi POW’s tortured
Took the words outta my mouth :k::k: 
UTD, on your last reply, we all understand that our government has renounced torture. What is disturbing about our stance is that we completely disengage on legal matters such as this. I understand that responding to every allegation can open a flood gate of false complaints and overburden our system; but when there is some legitimacy to a claim, or it becomes vociferant, it would serve us well to address such claims. If they are false, we should do our best to prove it. If they are true, well, we should naturally protect ourselves from undue repercussions, but we should also own up to our guilt. With this case I cannot call it one way or the other, I am not in that position, but someone can and needs to do it. As Nadia said, disengagement leads to suspicion, but, even if we are innocent, it can lead to resentment.. I know some may not give a damn whether France or Bhutan likes us, but the world would run a lot more smoothly if we didn’t try to avoid such basic moral responsibilities.
What about the word of Iraqi civilians, and aid workers who were also tortured?
Sesame Street breaks Iraqi POWs, BBC, 20 May 2003
Heavy metal music and popular American children’s songs are being used by US interrogators to break the will of their captives in Iraq.
Uncooperative prisoners are being exposed for prolonged periods to tracks by rock group Metallica and music from children’s TV programmes Sesame Street and Barney in the hope of making them talk.
The US’s Psychological Operations Company (Psy Ops) said the aim was to break a prisoner’s resistance through sleep deprivation and playing music that was culturally offensive to them. However, human rights organisation, Amnesty International, said such tactics may constitute torture - and coalition forces could be in breach of the Geneva Convention.
Sergeant Mark Hadsell, of Psy Ops, told Newsweek magazine: “These people haven’t heard heavy metal. They can’t take it. If you play it for 24 hours, your brain and body functions start to slide, your train of thought slows down and your will is broken. That’s when we come in and talk to them.”
Sgt Hadsell’s favourites are said to be ‘Bodies’ from the XXX film soundtrack and Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’.
The theme tune from the US children’s programme Sesame Street and songs from the purple singing dinosaur Barney are also on their hit list. “In training, they forced me to listen to the Barney “I Love You” song for 45 minutes. I never want to go through that again,” one US operative told the magazine.
Rick Hoffman, vice president of the Psy Ops Veterans Association, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that such a tactic would have no long-lasting effect on prisoners. “The use of this kind of audio-technique is rather new in interrogation,” he said. “There have been other kinds of non-lethal, non-harmful techniques, such as sleep deprivation… which leave no long-lasting effects but do have the end result of breaking down the individual’s will to resist questioning.”
**Amnesty International told BBC News Online that at least one Iraqi captive - a civilian, later released - had reported being kept awake for up to four days by loud music.
“This is an issue that seriously concerns us. If there is a prolonged period of sleep deprivation, it could well be considered torture,” said a spokeswoman.
“It is a very difficult line to draw between what constitutes discomfort and what constitutes torture - that line will vary for individuals and it would depend on each particular case,” she added.**
She said they were looking into whether the US and UK were abiding by their responsibilities under the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said all its prisoners are being held under the terms of the Geneva Convention and are visited by members of the International Red Cross.
Geneva Conventions, anyone ?
Red Cross denied access to PoWs, Ed Vulliamy
The Observer, 25 May 2003
**Up to 3,000 Iraqis - some of them civilians - believed to be gagged, bound, hooded and beaten at US camps close to Baghdad airport.
…] The International Committee of the Red Cross so far has been denied access to what the organisation believes could be as many as 3,000 prisoners held in searing heat. All other requests to inspect conditions under which prisoners are being held have been met with silence or been turned down**.
There is circumstantial evidence that prisoners are being gagged and hooded, in the manner of the Afghans and other captives held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba - treatment in itself questionable under international law.
Unlike the Afghans in Cuba, there is no doubt about the status of these captives, whether PoWs or civilians arrested for looting or other crimes under military occupation: all have the right, under the laws of war, to be visited and documented by the International Red Cross. ‘There is no argument about the situation with regard to the Iraqi armed forces and even the Fedayeen Saddam,’ said the ICRC’s spokeswoman in Baghdad, Nada Doumani.