'Stripped Naked-Dressed In Diaper-Shackled-Blindfolded-Abducted': Another Detainee Alleges Torture

[kpete]

Huffington Post has an exclusive interview with Yemen citizen Mohamed Farag Bashmilah:

Posted February 19, 2009 | 10:27 AM (EST)

Disappeared in the Name of National Security

Another Detainee Alleges Torture At CIA Black Hole
By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Thu Feb 19, 2009 at 02:58:40 PM EST
Tags: CIA, torture, detainees (all tags)
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Huffington Post has an exclusive interview with Yemen citizen Mohamed Farag Bashmilah:

From October 2003 until May 2005, I was illegally detained by the U.S. government and held in CIA-run "black sites" with no contact with the outside world. On May 5, 2005, without explanation, my American captors removed me from my cell and cuffed, hooded, and bundled me onto a plane that delivered me to Sana'a, Yemen. I was transferred into the custody of my own government, which held me -- apparently at the behest of the United States -- until March 27, 2006, when I was finally released, never once having faced any terrorism-related charges.

.........

What I do know is that the Jordanian government -- after torturing me for several days -- handed me over to a U.S. "rendition team" in Amman, which then abducted me, forced me onto a plane, and flew me to Afghanistan. During this, and several other transfers between CIA prisons, I was subjected to a brutal and deeply humiliating "preparation" ritual. I was stripped naked, dressed in a diaper, shackled, blindfolded and hooded, and then boarded onto a waiting plane. I was forced into painful positions, often reeling from the blows and kicks of the men who had "prepared" me for flight.

During my detention, I agonized constantly about my family back in Yemen, knowing they had no idea where I was. They never once received information about who had taken me, why I was taken, or even whether I was alive. They were never contacted by the U.S. government or the International Committee of the Red Cross. . . .

I believe that acknowledgment is the first step toward accounting for a wrongdoing. The American public needs to face what has happened to those of us who were disappeared and mistreated in the name of their national security, demand accountability for those who committed torture and other crimes, and acknowledge the suffering of those who became victims.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/19/exceptionalism/index.html

He's never gotten an explanation and all of his attempts to obtain documentation have been ignored or rejected. Why is he coming forward at Huffpo today? As part of an effort underway to get President Obama to establish a commission.

The American public deserves to know what was done to people like me -- and I deserve to know why I lost nineteen months of my life -- all in the name of protecting their security. It gives me faith to see that Americans are standing up for my rights and calling for the truth to be exposed. It is my hope that the President will not only establish this commission, but that he will also direct the relevant authorities to investigate and prosecute those who broke American laws in ordering the torture and disappearance of people like me. Truth and justice are not in opposition; both are necessary, and both are the right of all Americans and the victims harmed in their name.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mohamed-farag-bashmilah/disappeared-in-the-name-o_b_168200.html

full statement:
http://www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/accountability_statement.pdf
via:
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/2/19/155840/905

[jpak]

1. Whew - for a second I thought this was about a senator from LA

:evilgrin: