06/02/2007
Former Abu Ghraib Prisoner Seeks International Support for Iraqi Rights

KUALA LUMPUR: An Iraqi man allegedly abused by American troops at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison urged the international community on Tuesday to help stop what he called massive human rights violations by the U.S. in Iraq.

Ali Shalal Qaissi told more than 1,000 peace activists at an international anti-war meeting in Malaysia that he suffered "brutal methods of torture'' including electric shocks in the prison outside Baghdad between October 2003 and March 2004.

"Believe me, what I told you is a drop in the ocean (compared to) what is happening in Iraq,'' Qaissi said, urging the activists to take "the first step to defend the Iraqi people.''

Photographs taken by guards showing mistreatment of Abu Ghraib prisoners sparked worldwide outrage when they became public in 2004.

Eleven enlisted soldiers have since been convicted of crimes at Abu Ghraib, and a number of officers have been reprimanded.

Qaissi, speaking through an interpreter, received a standing ovation after describing being stripped of clothes for two weeks, beaten, starved and shocked with wires.

"I felt as if my eyes were being forced out,'' Qaissi said of the electrical shocks.

"I feel very sad that I have to remember and relive this horrible experience again and again.''
Qaissi, 45, a former lecturer, said he was freed after being told that his arrest had been a mistake.

He has since founded the Association of Victims of American Occupation Prisons, based in Jordan.

He was among delegates speaking at a three-day conference aimed at criminalising war, which was organized by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

On Wednesday, the conference's final day, delegates are to launch a war tribunal for world leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush.

The tribunal would not have any legal authority and cannot impose penalties, but Mahathir has said its aim would be to condemn them in history books. - AP