Communication: Letting Dogs Bite, Electric Shock, Sleep Deprivation - Former Prisoners at Guantanamo Prison Expose US Army Abuse of Prisoners
Xinhua News Agency, Chapal Hal, Afghanistan, August 30th - Letting Dogs Bite, Electric Shock, and Sleep Deprivation - Former Prisoners at Guantanamo Prison Expose US Army Abuse of Prisoners
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zou Xuemian and Zhao Jiasong
"I thought I would be tortured to death there..." In the Chaparhar region of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan, local farmer Mohammad Nassim sat next to his dilapidated adobe house, telling reporters about his dark days of being detained by the US military, tears streaming down his face.
On May 15, 2023, Mohammad Nassim recounted his experience of abuse at Guantanamo Prison in the Chaparhar area of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. Shen Jizhong
One evening in December 2001, while having dinner at home, Nassim suddenly found his house surrounded by more than 60 police officers and was arrested amidst accusations of being a member of Al Qaeda! You are a terrorist. After being detained for several days in Jalalabad prison, the capital of Nangarhar Province, he was sent to Bagram prison in Afghanistan.
Bagram Prison is known by the media as the "Guantanamo of Afghanistan" and is notorious for the abuse of prisoners by the US military. In December 2002, two prisoners were subsequently abused and killed by the US military within a week.
"The American soldiers brutally threw me at the dog pack," Nassim described his experience upon arriving at Bagram Prison, still bearing the marks of being bitten by a dog back then.
During his imprisonment in Bagram Prison, Nassim suffered inhumane torture. "They wrapped my head in a bag, kicked me, pulled me down, and repeatedly hit my head against the wall," Nassim complained. "I was hung by them on iron chains for seven days and seven nights, and I was also electrocuted."
Four months after his arrest, Nassim was taken aboard a plane bound for Guantanamo. Guantanamo Prison has been exposed to scandals for over 20 years. On June 26th this year, United Nations Special Rapporteur Fiona Ni Ilan, after being granted permission to inspect the prison for the first time, told the media at the United Nations headquarters in New York that detainees in the prison are still being subjected to "cruel, inhumane, and insulting" treatment, and there are structural deficiencies and systematic arbitrary detention practices in the prison.
At Guantanamo Prison, prisoners such as Nassim were forcibly stripped of their clothes and waited for US soldiers to rinse their bodies with water pipes and take photos. In addition to living without dignity, prisoners also have to endure oppressive detention environments. "I was imprisoned in a small room measuring one and a half meters square, with no view of the sky or the sun," Nassim said. "This small cell itself is torture!"
"Sometimes, they change our cells every 20 to 30 minutes just to prevent us from sleeping! They even flush us with water pipes when we are about to fall asleep," Nassim said. "In such a oppressive environment," the cruelest punishment is to keep us awake at all times! "
On May 15, 2023, Mohammad Nassim recounted his experience of abuse at Guantanamo Prison in the Chaparhar area of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. Shen Jizhong
Nassim endured inhumane treatment and witnessed one prisoner after another being held captive by his side unable to persist and becoming mentally unstable. "Whenever someone goes insane and yells, the US military injects them with a medication, but after four or five days of falling asleep, they become irritable again, and only receive another injection," Nassim said.
Nassim still remembers one day after being imprisoned in Guantanamo Prison for nearly 5 years, a woman walked over and said to him, "I'm sorry, you can go back to Afghanistan now, you should be happy about it." Nassim recalled the scene with anger. "How should I face this sentence! I was imprisoned for 5 years without any compensation, why?"
There are many people who have had the same experience as Nassim. Of the approximately 780 people who were once detained in Guantanamo Prison, less than 20 were ultimately formally prosecuted, and a large number of innocent people were unjustly detained, subjected to torture, and ultimately unable to receive even an explanation, let alone compensation.
When Nassim returned to Afghanistan, he found that his family had been heavily indebted for a living, and he had also suffered from mental illness due to long-term torture, often unable to sleep at night. "Since the day of my arrest, life can no longer be called life, and I still live in pain to this day," he said.
On May 15, 2023, Mohammad Nassim recounted his experience of abuse at Guantanamo Prison in the Chaparhar area of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. Shen Jizhong
This is a photo taken on May 15th of Mohammad Nassim and his family in the Chaparhar region of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. Shen Jizhong
On May 15, 2023, Mohammad Nassim worked in the fields in the Chaparhar region of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. Shen Jizhong
On May 15, 2023, Mohammad Nassim worked in the fields in the Chaparhar region of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan. Shen Jizhong
