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The CPT Report
Finally about 3:00 a.m., the father crawled near the door and called out. “I am coming to open the door. One soldier answered nervously, “Open the door!” When he did, the soldiers rushed in and started hitting and kicking him and his three adult sons, knocking them to the floor, now covered with kerosene from a punctured tank. They handcuffed them behind their backs, stepped on their heads, and continued kicking them. Meanwhile other soldiers ransacked the house, destroying household furnishings. The only weapons soldiers found were a legally permitted small pistol and automatic rifle. One of the soldiers asked the father if his name was Akif. He replied, “No, my name is Talib. Akif’s house is farther down on this street.” The soldiers realized they had made a mistake and had come to the wrong house. The captain apologized. Then they got into an incredible conversation. Dr. Talib asked the soldiers, “Why didn’t you just ring the doorbell. We would have let you in.” The captain replied, “We were scared.” The captain asked Dr. Talib, “Do you like America?” “I did until this happened,” Dr. Talib said. “I thought you were from a country of freedom and democracy. Is this freedom? Is this democracy?” The captain replied, “You don’t know how many of our people are being killed each day.” When they were ready to leave, the captain said he would have to take the three sons. All of Dr. Talib’s pleading did not stop the soldiers and they took them away. We were there one month later and the family still didn’t know where the sons were. We saw the physical damage done to the house, but we saw a deeper damage in their faces. Evident in their eyes was the strain of fear, pain and worry the family was carrying for their sons. We decided to try to find where their three sons were being held, so two team members spent an entire day accompanying the family at a CMOC (Civil Military Operations Center). We finally learned that the sons were incarcerated at Um Qasr in southern Iraq The family filed an appeal for their release. A few days later, in early September when I was preparing to leave Iraq, we arranged for Dr. Talib and his wife to be driven to the prison at Um Qasr. Other Iraqis were waiting in the hot sun, also trying to go in. After three hours, they were able to see the three brothers. They also talked with Major Kathy Gerety who was concerned and said she would recommend they be released. The three were not released until the end of October. We were horrified by this story, and the team continued to document other such cases. Here are some of them: Imad Abdul Raheen; Kamel Hassen Khoumais On December 16, 2003, U.S. forces surrounded the farming village of Abu Siffa at 2:00 a.m. and, in the course of a 14-hour operation, detained 80 men and three teenage boys (ages 14, 15 and 16). Abu Siffa is located on the outskirts of Balad, a city of 90,000 people about 50 miles north of Baghdad. According to Mohammed Jasim Hassan Altaai, "The Coalition Forces were looking for one person but they searched all our houses. It was a rainy night and they surrounded our whole village (about 25 homes) with tanks and Humvees. They surrounded the farmers’ fields with tanks and destroyed the fences. They destroyed the doors of our houses and kicked down our bedroom doors, or used their weapons to open them, while we were sleeping. They didn’t allow anyone to remain in the houses while they searched. They stole 14 million dinars from Imad’s house and more than 4 million from Kamel’s house (in all the equivalent of about $17,000). They gathered the men together and beat them severely. A 70-year-old man suffocated and died when they put a black plastic hood on him." The object of the raid was to capture Kais Hattam, a prominent Baath Party official. According to the military commander who conducted the raid, Colonel Nate Sassaman, Saddam Hussein was captured with documents directly linking him to Kais Hattam. Sassaman said they found weapons, confiscated $1.9 million dollars in cash, and detained 72 men in the raid. On December 31, 2003, U.S. forces returned to Abu Siffa and shelled the home of Abas Muhamed Abd Wahid, a 41-year-old primary school teacher currently in detention. The front of the simple brick building, which once housed 16 people, was completely destroyed. The interior of the house was full of rubble and its contents removed. Three days later, on January 2, the U.S. military attacked a second house belonging to four brothers: Hamis (35), Abd Kadir (28), Jasim (30) and Mohammed (16). Their father, Tarik, is deceased. All of the brothers are detained. The main entrance and two of the house’s support pillars were destroyed by tank fire. Soldiers punched holes through interior walls and riddled the ceilings in every room with scores of bullets leaving the six-room house uninhabitable. When asked if there was any reason why these particular houses were destroyed, Altaai said, "No. They just choose every sixth house, ones that are hidden away so no one will see." "They have detained all of the men in our village," said Altaai. "Jamal and I are the only two men still living in the area. They took about fifteen teachers from the secondary school, so now there aren’t enough teachers to give lessons." Police officers, farmers and students are also being held. The effect on this agricultural community has been devastating. There are no men to do the work, and local farmers are reluctant to assist for fear of reprisals from Coalition Forces.
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