Thousands detained without trial; torture worse since Abu Graib. posted by Richard Seymour

When the disgusting new pictures of torture in Abu Ghraib were released, a number of apologists demanded to know what the "news value" of witnessing these pictures was. The obvious answer is that they were new pictures, hence news. Much more, in many ways worse pictures than we had seen before, hence alarming news. Ironically, the next gesture of the apologists was to say that the publication of the pictures would "inflame" the "Muslim world": thereby very strongly implying that there was a very potent news value in the pictures. The next tactic was to suggest that the situation had moved on. Abu Ghraib had, (in a stunning faux pas), been renamed Camp Redemption, and the Rotten Apples were brought to justice.

We now know, of course, that torture, 'disappearances' and illegal detention did not end with the publication of the first round of Abu Ghraib pictures. Aside from the driller killers from whom the US maintains a formal distance, the occupiers and their client state have been found by Amnesty International to regularly engage in the 'disappearances' of individuals, detention for prolonged periods without trial, the denial of basic human rights and torture:

Torture has become even more widespread since the formal transfer of power, Amnesty charges, as a result of US-backed Iraqi security forces taking charge of some detention facilities. Among other methods, “victims have been subjected to electric shocks or have been beaten with plastic cables.”

Among the case studies cited by Amnesty is that of a 47-year-old imam referred to as Karim R, who was "detained and tortured by US forces in 2003 and then by Iraqi forces in 2005." In both cases, he was subsequently released without ever having been charged.

After being picked up in Baghdad by American occupation troops in October 2003, "He was insulted, blindfolded, beaten and subjected to electric shocks from a stun gun (taser) by US troops at a detention facility in the Kadhimiya district of Baghdad," the report states. He was held for seven days.

In May 2005, Karim R was detained for 16 days by Iraqi Interior Ministry forces at one of their detention facilities in Baghdad. He described his torture to Amnesty International:

"They tied my hands to the back with a cable. There was an instrument with a chain which was attached to the ceiling. When they switched it on the chain pulled me up to the ceiling. Because the hands are tied to the back this is even more painful (...) Afterwards they threw water over me and they used electric shocks. They connected the current to my legs and also to other parts of my body. (...) The first time they subjected me to electric shocks I fainted for 40 seconds or one minute. It felt like falling from a building. I had a headache and was not able to walk. The interrogator said: You better confess to terrorist activities, in order to save your life. I responded that I was not involved in these activities and that I had a heart condition. (...) Later they forced me to confess on camera. They asked questions claiming that I was a terrorist but they did not even give me the chance to reply. They just stated that I was a terrorist. (...)."

Yeah but yeah but yeah but... what's the news value of this? Are we sure the 'victims' are telling the truth? What about the methology, can we fault that in some way? How about Amnesty's motives? Don't they say some negative things about Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza? Maybe we could call them anti-Semites. Anyway, isn't it a good thing that we're transferring sovereignty? If the Independent, Sovereign Iraqi Government chooses to engage in torture despite our best efforts, are we to blame for that? And aren't there literally hundreds of similar questions that we might ask that would help us sustain our shameful disavowal about the behaviour of imperialists?