Although the vast majority of detainees in the American-led War on Terror have have been male, a number of female detainees have been held for their own suspected involvement in terrorism, or as hostages to coerce their male relatives into cooperating with their captors.
Abu Ghraib
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The Abu Ghraib prison has held the largest number of female detainees, chiefly in Cellblock A1 where they are kept along with the highest-importance male detainees.[1]
In December 2003, a female prisoner named as "Noor" smuggled a note out of the prison, alleging that the female prisoners were being routinely interrogated naked, and raped by American soldiers - and that several were now pregnant with their captors' children.[1] The note asked the Iraqi insurgency to bomb the prison, to prevent further suffering by its prisoners.
An inquiry led by American Major General Antonio Taguba a month later concluded that the contents of the note were accurate.[1]
Although the images were not released to the public following the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse, members of the United States Congress were shown the photographs of female prisoner abuse, including a video of a Military Policeman raping a female detainee.[2]
A 70-year old female prisoner was arrested in July 2003, and held at two separate prisons for six weeks, during which time she was ridden around by troops as though she were a donkey. Member of Parliament Ann Clwyd investigated the claims, and determined they were true.[1]
In November 2003, Huda Alazawi claims she was blackmailed by an informant who threatened to fabricate evidence her family was working with the Iraqi insurgency if she didn't pay him $10,000. When the grandmother later went to the American forces staying in Adhamiya, she was arrested along with her sister and two brothers she'd been asked to bring, and left overnight in a room. She reports being made to stand against a wall for 12 hours, and then sentenced to 156 days of solitary confinement, but says she was never sexually assaulted.[3]
Other prisons in Iraq
editIn November 2003, a female prisoner at the American military base in al-Kharkh reported being gang raped by American soldiers, and begged attorney Amal Kadham Swadi not to tell her family about the episode.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Harding, Luke. The Guardian, The other prisoners, May 20, 2004
- ^ Hersh, Seymour, The New Yorker, "The General's Report", June 25 2007
- ^ Harding, Luke. The Guardian, After Abu Ghraib, September 20, 2004