Sexual Violence Against Iraqi Women by US Soldiers
Friday, April 22, 2005 at 10:00PM
TheSpook
Confirmed: An Iraqi woman in her 70s Harnessed and Ridden like a Donkey
Iraqi female detainees illegally
detained, raped and sexually violated by United States military
personnel. Iraqi female detainees have been illegally detained, raped
and sexually violated by United States military personnel. Women who
stay at home in traditional roles are more likely to be imprisoned as
bargaining chips by US troops seeking to pressurize male relatives,
according to the New Statesman1. In December 2003, a woman prisoner,
“Noor,” smuggled out a note stating that US guards at Abu Ghraib had
been raping women detainees and forcing them to strip naked. Several of
the women were now pregnant2. The classified enquiry launched by the US
military, headed by Major General Antonio Taguba, has confirmed the
note by “Noor” and that sexual violence against women at Abu Ghraib
took place. Among the 1,800 digital photographs taken by US guards
inside Abu Ghraib there were, according to Taguba’s report, images of
naked male and female detainees; a male Military Police guard “having
sex” with a female detainee; detainees (of unspecified gender) forcibly
arranged in various sexually explicit positions for photographing; and
naked female detainees3. The Bush administration has refused to release
photographs of Iraqi women prisoners at Abu Ghraib, including those of
women forced at gunpoint to bare their breasts, although these have
been shown to Congress4. UK Member of Parliament Ann Clwyd (L) has
confirmed a report of an Iraqi woman in her 70s who had been harnessed
and ridden like a donkey at Abu Ghraib and another coalition detention
centre after being arrested last July. Clwyd said: “She was held for
about six weeks without charge. During that time she was insulted and
told she was a donkey5.” [more] and [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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