"It's a Baghdad party to celebrate the return of a son. But after 5 ½ months in Abu Ghraib, 'Mohamed' is still too scared to be identified.

'They handcuff you and put a sack on your head during interrogations. They beat you with the butt of their guns or a stick. If you fall down, they pull you like a garbage bag and drag you away'. Sergeant Samuel Provance worked for US Military Intelligence in the prison. He's now broken his silence to reveal the use of children in interrogation. Lowai is still in Abu Ghraib. Just 16, he was detained 6 months ago. His father laments: 'They shouldn't put children in Abu Ghraib. That's a big mistake. Is this the humanitarian ideals Americans are talking about? That's a place for adults'. 'Mohamed' says he also received electric shocks. Clearly treating children in this way is illegal under international law, but just two countries have not signed up to the UN convention on the rights of the child: Somalia and the USA. Human Rights' Watch rejects all US claims of improvements at prisons like Abu Ghraib until independent scrutiny is allowed. Lowai's mother says she can visit her son more often than she could before the scandal broke, but says he is 'frustrated and stressed out', and talking about the use of dogs. Clearly unjust detentions are a leading cause for the mounting anger and radicalisation of the young people of Iraq."

***

RELATED LINKS

rape of children at Abu Ghraib, Pentagon has video, full article

rape of females at Abu Ghraib, full article

former Abu Ghraib female prisoner's experience, full article

ACLU's ongoing battle for more Abu Ghraib pictures and evidence, video

Seymous Hersh on torture coverup, video with links to interviews of 4 former Abu Ghraib interrogators and General Karpinski, commander of Abu Ghraib