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Full Transcript of Ali Shalal’s Testimony
By Prof. Ali Shalal~Global Research
Global Research Editor’s Note
Known to the World as “The Man behind the Hood”. Al Shalal was tortured at Abu Ghraib Prison.
In February of 2007, Global Research published the complete transcript of Professor Ali Shalal’s testimony.
His sworn statement was presented to the War Crimes Commission set up under the helm of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, as evidence in the legal procedure launched in Kuala Lumpur directed against (former) US President George W. Bush, Britain’s (former) Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard.
Ali Shalal is a man of tremendous courage and determination. I heard his testimony in Kuala Lumpur. I had the opportunity of speaking to him on several occasions in the course of the February 2007 war crimes Conference. We established bonds of friendship and solidarity. We shared our determination to bring the war criminals in high office to justice.
Ali Shalal is a professor of theology. He is a tremendous source of inspiration.
At this juncture, at the outset of the Obama administration, senior Bush officials are being brought to justice in Spain for having ordered the use of torture. Al Shalal’s sworn testimony, which is a public document, should now serve to support the indictment and prosecution of those senior officials including the president and vice-president, who ordered the use of torture.
Ali Shalal’s testimony should also be used to dispel any hesitation on the part of the White House and the US Congress regarding the indictment and prosecution of Bush officials. In this regard, caving in to pressures “from the Republican Party and the national security apparatus, President Obama and leading Democrats have indicated they will block any independent commission to investigate the widespread torture of prisoners under the Bush administration” (see Tom Eley, Obama Democrats move to block torture investigation, WSWS.org and global Research, April 27, 2009)
It is important to understand that what Ali Shalal experienced was part of a routine process of torture, applied systematically to those arrested. Many of his companions in Abu Ghraib died as a result of torture or were executed upon their release so that they would not reveal the gruesome horrors and atrocities committed on the orders of the Bush administration.
Also of significance, as confirmed by his testimony, was the fact that Israeli “civilians” were involved in assisting the US prison interrogators.
Ali Shalal survived and provided testimony in the name of all those who were tortured to death.
We call upon President Barack Obama and members of the US Congress to read and acknowledge Ali Shalal’s testimony and act accordingly.
Whatever decision is taken regarding the indictment and prosecution of high ranking Bush officials, Ali Shalal’s words will go down in history.
STATUTORY DECLARATION
I, Ali Sh. Abbas (alias Ali Shalal) of full age and an Iraqi citizen do hereby solemnly and sincerely declare as follows:
1. I am 45 years old
2. I now live in Amman, Jordan.
3. I was an Islamic education lecturer in the city of Al-Alamiya, Iraq
4. The purpose of making this statutory declaration is to put on record my torture experience in the Abu Ghraib prison.
5. On the 13th October, 2003 while I was going to prayer in the mosque in Al-Amraya, the American troops arrested me. They tied my hands to the back of my body and put a bag over my head. They took me to a small prison in a U.S. military camp in Al-Amraya.
6. The Commander of this military camp, one Captain Philips told me that he had received an order from his superior to arrest him and he did not know the reasons for my arrest. I was left alone in the prison.
7. After two days, they transferred me to the Abu Ghraib prison. The first thing they did to me was to make a physical examination of my body and abused me. Together with other detainees, we were made to sit on the floor and were dragged to the interrogation room. This so called room is in fact a toilet (approximately 2m by 2m) and was flooded with water and human waste up to my ankle level. I was asked to sit in the filthy water while the American interrogator stood outside the door, with the translator.
8. After the interrogation, I would be removed from the toilet, and before the next detainee is put into the toilet, the guards would urinate into the filthy water in front of the other detainees.
9. The first question they asked me was, “Are you a Sunni or Shiia?” I answered that this is the first time I have been asked this question in my life. I was surprised by this question, as in Iraq there is no such distinction or difference. The American interrogator replied that I must answer directly the questions and not to reply outside the question. He then said that in Iraq there are Sunnis, Shiias and Kurds.
10. The interrogators wore civilian clothes and the translator, an Afro-American wore American army uniform.
11. When I answered that I am an Iraqi Muslim, the interrogator refused to accept my answer and charged me for the following offence:
(a) That I am anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic.
(b) I supported the resistance
(c) I instigated the people to oppose the occupation
(d) That I knew the location of Osama bin Ladin
I protested and said that Muslims and Jews descended from the same historical family. I said that I could not be in the resistance because I am a disabled person and have an injured hand.
12. The interrogator accused me that I had injured my hand while attacking the American soldiers.
13. The interrogator informed me that they knew that I was an important person in the community and therefore could help them. As an inducement for my cooperation, the interrogator offered medical help for my injured hand.
14. When I did not cooperate, the interrogator asked me whether I considered the American army as “liberator” or “occupier”. When I replied that they were occupiers, he lost his temper and threatened me. He told me that I would be sent to Guantanamo Bay where even animals would not be able to survive.
15. They took me to another room and took record of my thumb print, a photo of my eye and a sample of my saliva for DNA analysis. After this procedure, they tagged me by putting a band round my wrist with the following particulars: my name, a number, my religious status and whether I had previous arrest.
16. They then beat me repeatedly and put me in a truck to transfer me to another part of the Abu Ghraib prison.
17. This part of the prison, was in an open space and consisted of five sectors, surrounded by walls and barb wires and was called “Fiji Land”. Each sector had five tents and surrounded by barb wires. When I was removed from the truck, the soldiers marked my forehead with the words “Big Fish” in red. All the detainees in this camp are considered “Big Fish”. I was located in camp “B”.
ARTICLE CONTINUES…
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