Post by POA on May 4, 2004 20:06:18 GMT -5
Feature Article
Telltale Signs of Torture Lead Family to Demand Answers
Wife, Daughters Tell of Iraqi Man Discharged from U.S. Custody in Coma
by Dahr Jamail (bio)
Brian Dominick (bio) contributed to this item.
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Editor's Note: Part of the following feature story was first reported by Baghdad correspondent Dahr Jamail back in January, when almost no one was paying attention to stories of the horrifying treatment dealt to Iraqi prisoners by their Western captors. Now that the world has deemed the topic newsworthy, Jamail has returned to the story for more thorough coverage. As part of our mission to The NewStandard will continue to pursue this and other stories like it in the near future. As any Iraq correspondent who speaks with Iraqis can attest, there is no shortage of them.
Baghdad , May 4 - 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.
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.
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 "security detainee," was to be transferred to a Combat Support Hospital, and then be returned to 4th ID custody "if he recovers."
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.
“Building the trust, building the relationships between the Iraqis and coalition forces -- 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.” --Major Josslyn Aberle, 4th Inf. Div. Public Affairs Officer
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 "just absolutely would not be tolerated" by the military.
Aberle continued, "Throughout 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." 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) "with persistent vegetative state," 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 "chest pain that radiated into his arm" earlier that day. At that point, the report says, Zoman was treated with a nitroglycerine tablet and intravenous fluids before being "returned to the prison population," only to be brought back to medics later, "shaking and unresponsive."
[continued in followup]