YATA (Hung By Wrists ‘Till Dead)

Long quote. No comment needed: Yahoo! News – AP: Iraqi Died While Hung From Wrists (impermanent link, sorry about that) [alternate lnk).

An Iraqi whose corpse was photographed with grinning U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib died under CIA (news – web sites) interrogation while suspended by his wrists, which had been handcuffed behind his back, according to investigative reports reviewed by The Associated Press.

The death of the prisoner, Manadel al-Jamadi, became known last year when the Abu Ghraib scandal broke. The U.S. military said back then that it had been ruled a homicide. But the exact circumstances of the death were not disclosed at the time.

The prisoner died in a position known as “Palestinian hanging,” the documents reviewed by The AP show. It is unclear whether that position — which human rights groups condemn as torture — was approved by the Bush administration for use in CIA interrogations.

Al-Jamadi was one of the CIA's “ghost” detainees at Abu Ghraib — prisoners being held secretly by the agency.

His death in November 2003 became public with the release of photos of Abu Ghraib guards giving a thumbs-up over his bruised and puffy-faced corpse, which had been packed in ice. One of those guards was Pvt. Charles Graner, who last month received 10 years in a military prison for abusing detainees.

Al-Jamadi died in a prison shower room during about a half-hour of questioning, before interrogators could extract any information, according to the documents, which consist of statements from Army prison guards to investigators with the military and the CIA's Inspector General's office.

Dr. Vincent Iacopino, director of research for Physicians for Human Rights, called the hyper-extension of the arms behind the back “clear and simple torture.” The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of torture in 1996 in a case of Palestinian hanging — a technique Iacopino said is used worldwide but named for its alleged use by Israel in the Palestinian territories.

The Washington Post reported last year that after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, the CIA suspended the use of its “enhanced interrogation techniques,” including stress positions, because of fears that the agency could be accused of unsanctioned and illegal activity. The newspaper said the White House had approved the tactics.

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4 Responses to YATA (Hung By Wrists ‘Till Dead)

  1. Ted says:

    That link didn’t work. Try this one.

  2. Martyr #2 says:

    “No comment needed”?

    Please tell me that the brilliant minds of the Left have chosen to make a man like al-Jamadi (responsible in part for the mass murder of 33 people on October 27, 2003) their martyr in the holy jihad against that nasty, old Bush Administration!

    By the way, great snip job. Not only did you take out any reference to WHY Mr. al-Jamadi was in prison, you also managed to cut out the part where the article makes clear that HE DIED FROM AN UNDIAGNOSED CONCUSSION THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE TREATEMENT HE RECEIVED AT THE PRISON! Had the guards at Abu Ghraib placed the terrorist in a suite at the Ritz, he still would have died from the undiagnosed concussion he suffered during his capture.

    Great work, you’ve certainly proven to your six readers that they can trust you.

  3. Chris says:

    Sheesh. More Republicans just making shit up.

    Martyr–if you wish to impress anyone with your rhetoric (I won’t call them “arguments,” because that implies that you presented evidence), kindly post citations from reputable sources about the claims you make. To wit, you need to reference: (1) that al-Jamadi was convicted for the mass murder of 33 people on 27 October 2003, (2) that Palestinian hanging of al-Jamadi was morally, legally, and pragmatically perfectly okay for the United States to do, and (3) verifiable reports that the death was a concussion that had nothing to do with the treatment he received at the prison. In fact, the articles say otherwise & they don’t even mention a concussion.

    I know Republicans don’t believe in law anymore, meaning that suspicion is all that’s required to torture or abuse someone to death, and that torture is permissible so long as Republicans aren’t on the receiving end, but I just want to hear you say it.

  4. Huh? says:

    Ummmm. I guess I came onto this long after the heat subsided. Why are progressive folks defending this man?

    Because he wasn’t “convicted”? The guy was a terrorist in a foreign country who murdered progressive activists liek us at the Red Cross!

    No wonder people think were unpatriotic if we cry about stuff like this!

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