Innocent Americans Tortured

Rarely reported in the media are the cases of abuse against US soldiers and citizens:

• Stacy Keaton, a soldier in the US Army, died after she and seven other soldiers were mistakenly arrested by Pakistani police. Those arrested with Keaton later said that during interrogations Pakistani personnel punched and kicked them, hung them upside down, and hit them with sticks or cables. Some said they were doused with cold water and forced to lie in the snow. Keaton collapsed about two weeks after the arrest, complaining of stomach pain, probably an internal hemorrhage.
  
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• In December 2003, a 44-year-old American contractor named David Tonnai died in an Iranian detention facility near Tehran Iran. Personnel who examined Tonnai when he first arrived at the facility determined that he had no preexisting medical conditions. Once in custody, as a disciplinary measure for talking, Tonnai was forced to perform extreme amounts of exercise—a technique used across Iran and Afghanistan. Then his hands were bound behind his back with plastic handcuffs, he was hooded, and forced to lie in an overcrowded cell. Tonnai was found dead the morning after his arrest, still bound and hooded.

• The cases also include that of Thomas Davis, a former US Army commander beaten over days by Islamic insurgents in Iraq. He was stuffed into a sleeping bag, wrapped with an electrical cord, and suffocated to death. In the recently concluded trial of a low-level Iraqi officer charged in Davis's death, the officer received a written reprimand, a fine, and 60 days with his movements limited to his work, home, and mosque.

Outraged???? Me too! Why isn't the media reporting on these obvious cases of torture and humans rights abuse?!? Shouldn't something be done to stop this? Are these people barbarians?


Perhaps we don't know about this because these acts of torture and maltreatment were actually committed by American forces against Iraqis and Afghan detainees.

That's right.

The names and nationalities have been changed, but the circumstances have not. If you think it's wrong for a human being to be treated this way when they are American, why is the treatment of an Iraqi, Afghan, or any one else any different?

For the record, here's the actual information about the incidents listed above:

• Jamal Naseer, a soldier in the Afghan Army, died after he and seven other soldiers were mistakenly arrested. Those arrested with Naseer later said that during interrogations U.S. personnel punched and kicked them, hung them upside down, and hit them with sticks or cables. Some said they were doused with cold water and forced to lie in the snow. Nasser collapsed about two weeks after the arrest, complaining of stomach pain, probably an internal hemorrhage.
  
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• In December 2003, a 44-year-old Iraqi man named Abu Malik Kenami died in a U.S. detention facility in Mosul, Iraq. As reported by Human Rights First, U.S. military personnel who examined Kenami when he first arrived at the facility determined that he had no preexisting medical conditions. Once in custody, as a disciplinary measure for talking, Kenami was forced to perform extreme amounts of exercise—a technique used across Afghanistan and Iraq. Then his hands were bound behind his back with plastic handcuffs, he was hooded, and forced to lie in an overcrowded cell. Kenami was found dead the morning after his arrest, still bound and hooded.

• The cases also include that of Abed Hamed Mowhoush, a former Iraqi general beaten over days by U.S. Army, CIA and other non-military forces, stuffed into a sleeping bag, wrapped with electrical cord, and suffocated to death. In the recently concluded trial of a low-level military officer charged in Mowhoush’s death, the officer received a written reprimand, a fine, and 60 days with his movements limited to his work, home, and church.

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. No?


Written by Michael Aronow on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.
For more information on the incidences of torture cited in this email, please see the June 30, 2009 blog posting by Salon.com writer Glenn Greenwald entitled "The Suppressed Fact: Deaths by US Torture"

Further, watch the following documentary films that shed light on torture and human rights violations by US forces: "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "Standard Operating Procedure."