Mosque turned into Torture Chamber Options

[Jim]

Chain wrapped around 'old man's body' found in mosque

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- "There are the bloodstains on the wall, and here it is dried on the floor," Abu Muhanad said as he walked through a torture chamber in a Baghdad mosque where more than two dozen bodies have been found.

"And here, a woman's shoes. She was a victim of the militia. We found her corpse in the grave." Chunks of hair waft lazily across the floor in the hot Baghdad breeze.

"This was the torture room," said Muhanad, the leader of a U.S.-backed armed group that now controls the mosque.

"This is what they used for hanging," he said, pointing to a cord dangling from the ceiling. "Here is a chain we found tied to an old man's body."

The horrific scene at this southwestern Baghdad mosque is what officials say was the work of a Shiite militia known as the Mehdi Army. Residents who live near the mosque say they could hear the victims' screams.

The militia had been in control of the mosque, called Adib al-Jumaili, from at least January 2007 until May of this year. Residents say coalition forces weren't in the region and the torture and killings went unchecked.

Some of the victims were accused of being spies for U.S. forces. Other family members don't know why their loved ones disappeared. The family members at the mosque who spoke to CNN were all Shiite, the same branch of Islam as the Mehdi militia. But, they say, some of the victims were Sunni as well.

The neighborhood lies in an area that became one of the capital's many sectarian fault lines when violence was at its worst.

It's been about three months since the Mehdi Army, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, abandoned this mosque as it withdrew from several strongholds across the country.

Spray painted on the walls is a chilling warning: "Spies, you will dig your own graves. Long live the Mehdi Army."

Now the mosque is under the watch of the Sons of Iraq, a local armed group that is largely financed by the Americans working alongside the Iraqi police. They are charged with trying to keep the peace in the neighborhood.

Muhanad is their leader.

"We found this chain on an old man's corpse that we dug out of the grave," he said, gesturing to a bloodied chain on the floor. "We recovered about 22 corpses and then another five."

Only now are people able to understand the true magnitude of the Shiite militia's atrocities and the brutal laws they were enforcing on the people.

"This was my son's grave," Abu Wissam said, pointing to one of the many shallow holes in the mosque's garden. "We recovered his corpse completely rotten. His hands and legs were amputated, and his head was decapitated."

"He was just a college graduate," his mother sobbed, clutching her 25-year-old son's photo.

They say the Mehdi Army abducted their son about a year ago, accusing him of being a traitor. They shot up and looted his home. The family fled.

A gruesome video of their son's mutilated body was delivered to their doorstep.

The militia "still raid our homes," Abu Wissam said. "Their families are in the district. The day before yesterday, at noon, they tried to assassinate me, but I was able to call the police for help."

The neighborhood is eerily deserted. Most of the residents fled the militia's reign; many who stayed bore the brunt of the violence. Homes stand abandoned, shops shuttered, buildings shot up.

A single car drives down the main street as a pack of dogs runs through the twisted piles of metal that was once an outdoor market.

Lingering at the mosque are a handful of residents whose loved ones were also abducted, looking for clues.

"They said they were just taking him for a few minutes, for an investigation," said Karima, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, as her eyes filled with tears. "But they never released him and we heard he might be buried behind the mosque."

Umm Diab's breath came in shallow gasps as tears flowed from her turquoise-green eyes. She wiped them away using the corner of her abaya, or robe. In her hand, there's a passport photo of her father, who was abducted by the militia.

"All we want are their dead bodies," she said.

Although the Mehdi Army has moved out of this mosque and is less visible on the street, residents know that they're not gone.

"They're still threatening us," Umm Diab said.

(CNN)

[Misbah (The One)]

"This was my son's grave," Abu Wissam said, pointing to one of the many shallow holes in the mosque's garden. "We recovered his corpse completely rotten. His hands and legs were amputated, and his head was decapitated."



Salaam,

This is disgusting utter and sheer unacceptable, people seems to have lost all respect for human life, without fear from god, or the afterlife, even if ones NOT religious, they still have a conscience, still have human feelings, but i cannot understand how anyone can do this without feeling remorse.......Whatever the reason being.

And now for doing these atrocities in a Mosque, that's just way below the best, any religious building and i mean any even if you don't believe in anything should be at least respect.

Its disgusting and yeah very sad to read.

[Jim]

I completely agree Missy.

Sadly, this is what these groups in Iraq have turned to, desecrating our religion and our Masajid and community centers and torturing and killing each other.

The majority of people tortured and killed are not done by US forces but these vigilante jihadi groups.

[Misbah (The One)]

I know Jim, i just don't understand how they can do this to one another, i sometimes smack my little girls when naughty on the backside and i feel bad, or when i shout, when these men decapitate they heads, torture while alive, rape and kill while relatives watch, i just don't understand them, having no fear.

I'm too afraid to nick anything from shop yet alone, attack anyone because i know Allah is watching..

What's wrong with humans.

"They said they were just taking him for a few minutes, for an investigation," said Karima, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, as her eyes filled with tears. "But they never released him and we heard he might be buried behind the mosque."

Umm Diab's breath came in shallow gasps as tears flowed from her turquoise-green eyes. She wiped them away using the corner of her abaya, or robe. In her hand, there's a passport photo of her father, who was abducted by the militia.

"All we want are their dead bodies," she said.

[Zarmina]

The majority of people tortured and killed are not done by US forces but these vigilante jihadi groups.

Sometimes, I have doubts that is true. I know in Afghanistan, recent data shows that more civilians have been killed by NATO and US forces during attacks on the Taliban than by Taliban and Al Qaeda suicide bombers.

[Honu]

I know in Afghanistan, recent data shows that more civilians have been killed by NATO and US forces during attacks on the Taliban than by Taliban and Al Qaeda suicide bombers.

Source?

How about if deaths other than "suicide bombers" are counted?

Lastly, the post is about Iraq, not Afghanistan.

[Zarmina]

Source?

How about if deaths other than "suicide bombers" are counted?

Lastly, the post is about Iraq, not Afghanistan.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-24-karzai_N.htm

And this just in today:

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStor...n%20Afghanistan

"Seventy-six people, all civilians and most of them women and children, were martyred during the operation by coalition forces in Shindand district of Herat province," said the statement from the interior ministry. The ministry said that it has launched an investigation into the incident.

Earlier in the month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had openly warned the international coalition forces over the deaths of civilians in their operations in interior Afghanistan.

This post has been edited by Zarmina: Aug 23 2008, 12:47 AM

[Honu]

Zarmina,

Your first source is over a year old and the second source provides no comparison data.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand... Iraq.

[Zarmina]

Zarmina,

Your first source is over a year old and the second source provides no comparison data.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand... Iraq.

Does not matter. The trend has not changed, evident from the second article - which you so easily dismissed. Yes, let's get back to Iraq, so you can dismiss the facts there as well.

Good Luck.

[Honu]

The trend has not changed, evident from the second article -

The second article provides no evidence the trend has not changed. I dismiss the second article as supporting your claims (since it doesn't), not that there might be a situation that needs to be addressed.

Yes, let's get back to Iraq, so you can dismiss the facts there as well.

Post some "facts" and then lets see if I dismiss them.

[Romaica]

You're talking about people ,shiite, who have been repressed for decades during Saddam's regime. Many of them held grudges for Saddam & his followers for killing their own families. It's strong hatred that is deeply rooted and passed from generation to generation. However that doesn't excuse their brutal actions.
Maybe their motto is "the end justifies the means"
I am against ALL people who commit such crimes and mean no offense to Shiites