Australian terror suspect says he was beaten, sexually humiliated

[NNN0LHI]

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/2/13/latest/21375Australian&sec=latest

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - An Australian terror suspect released from Guantanamo Bay says he was beaten, given electric shocks, sexually humiliated and nearly drowned while under U.S. supervision.

Mamdouh Habib, an Egyptian-born former coffee shop owner and father of four, returned to his hometown of Sydney last month after being held for more than three years without charge. snip

He said three weeks after his capture, he was transferred to Egypt where he was tortured daily for six months before he was sent via Afghanistan to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He told Nine that an interrogator once lied to him that his family had been killed. He also claimed he was stripped naked and threatened with a dog he was told was trained to have sex with humans. Nine did not say where this treatment took place.

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[Djinn]

1. another disturbing element

is that Habib was VERY clear in the interview that the reason he would not detail answers to some questions (had he been in Afghanistan for example) unless he could do so in front of a judge, in which case he would answer in full.

The reason being that these answer were pertinent to his defence, and quite reasonably given the way he's been treated, he does not want to "tip off" his accusers.

However almost the entire media has today run with the "habib refuses to answer" angle - he did nothing of the sort

Channel nine's entire agenda seem to be to show that while he was tortured, was imprisoned without charge for three years, he kinda deserved it because after all he does supoprt the views of some folks we don't like and he is one of them "radical mooslims"...funny in Australia I always thought you could beleive what you like.

The whole interview made me want to vomit, both hearing what he went through in his own words (the accusations weren't new) what seemed to be channel nine's justification for that

[soaky]

2. exactly

i despised the way the interview was framed by nine but I wanted to hear what habib had to say. Even the last comment by tara brown implied a 'torture is ok if you're a terrorist' angle with a Fox-like 'people think' statement.

TARA BROWN: That they can't believe you have been treated in this way unless you have done something wrong, unless there's something suspicious about you.

Transcript: Under suspicion

[Djinn]

3. me too

myself and a friend were mentioning yesterday that it was the first time EVER either of us had said "I want to watch 60 Minutes tonight", almost felt we should wash our mouths out!

[velvet]

5. oh yes

Having never before wanted to watch "36 Minutes", as Stewart Littlemore was fond of calling it, I had to ask around to find out what time it was on.

While I found myself imagining how Four Corners might have handled this momentous interview, I do feel that this way Habib was reaching the widest possible audience. And after three years in prison, I'm sure he needed the interview fee. Good luck to him, I thought he did well and stood firm against the spin.

[Djinn]

6. that's another angle that's peeved me

every news report mentions the money - Virginia Trioli couldn't let go of it yesterday - personally I don't the media should offer to pay for interviews but if they're offering you'd be insane to say no - especially if for the last three years your wife has been bringing up your kids without an income

[VegasWolf]

4. Why haven't the War Crimes Tribunals been started yet dammit?n/t