[Media-watch] 82nd airborne knew prisoners were Reuters staff - Editor and Publisher - 18 May 2004

[Julie-ann Davies]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000513625


Exclusive: Shocking Details on Abuse of Reuters Staffers in Iraq

By Greg Mitchell

Published: May 19, 2004 1:35 PM EST

NEW YORK In the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Reuters revealed on
Tuesday that three Iraqis working for the company, and another Iraqi
journalist working for NBC News, were seized for no reason in early January
by the U.S. military and taken to a prison near Fallujah where they were
subjected to physical and sexual abuse, among other forms of mistreatment.
The U.S. military has denied the accusations.

E&P today obtained from Reuters a report submitted to the company's senior
editors in mid-January, less than two weeks after the journalists were
detained, by Bureau Chief Andrew Marshall, who had interviewed the three
staffers separately. The Reuters employees are Salem Ureibi, who has worked
for the company since 1991, mainly as a cameraman; Ahmad Mohammad
al-Badrani, who has worked with Reuters on a freelance basis since July
2003, shooting video; and Sattar Jabar al-Badrani, a driver.

Marshall observed in his report, "It should be noted that the bulk of their
mistreatment -- including their humiliating interrogations and the mental
and physical torment of the first night which all agreed was the worst part
of their ordeal -- occurred several hours AFTER I had informed the 82nd
Airborne Division that they were Reuters staff. I have e-mail proof of
this."

Reuters also made available to E&P about two dozen pages of transcripts of
Marshall's interviews with the three staffers on Jan. 8.

Here are excerpts from Marshall's report:

"When the soldiers approached them they were standing by their car, a blue
Opel. Salem Uraiby shouted 'Reuters, Reuters, journalist, journalist.' At
least one shot was fired into the ground close to them.

"They were thrown to the ground and soldiers placed guns to their heads.
Their car was searched. Soldiers found their camera equipment and press
badges and discovered no weapons of any kind. Their hands were cuffed behind
their backs and they were thrown roughly into a Humvee where they lay on the
floor. ...

"After half an hour to an hour they were transferred to a larger armored
vehicle. Ahmad and Sattar (along with NBC stringer Ali who I have yet to
formally interview) were thrown on the floor under the seats. ...

"Once they arrived at the U.S. base (this was FOB Volturno near Fallujah)
they were kept in a holding area with around 40 other prisoners in a large
room with several open windows. It was bitterly cold. They were given one
blanket between two. All were interrogated separately at different times and
the worst treatment they suffered was on the first night when for several
hours (they believe it was from around midnight until dawn) all of them were
put in a room together and subjected to hours of abuse.

"Bags were alternately placed on their heads and taken off again. Deafening
music was played on loudspeakers directly into their ears and they were told
to dance around the room. Sometimes when they were doing this, soldiers
would shine very bright torches directly into their eyes and hit them with
the torches. They were told to lie on the floor and wiggle their backsides
in the air to the music. They were told to do repeated press ups and to
repeatedly stand up from a crouching position and then return to the
crouching position.

"Soldiers would move between them, whispering things in their ear. Ahmad and
Sattar did not understand what was whispered. Salem says they whispered that
they wanted to have sex with him and were saying "come on, just for two
minutes."T hey also said he should bring his wife so they could have sex
with her. ...

"Soldiers would whisper in their ears "One, two, three..." and then shout
something loudly right beside their ear. All of this went on all night. ...
Ahmad said he collapsed by morning. Sattar said he collapsed after Ahmad and
began vomiting. ...

"When they were taken individually for interrogation, they were interrogated
by two American soldiers and an Arab interpreter. All three shouted abuse at
them. They were accused of shooting down the helicopter. Salem, Ahmad and
Sattar all reported that for their first interrogation they were told to
kneel on the floor with their feet raised off the floor and with their hands
raised in the air.

"If they let their feet or hands drop they were slapped and shouted at.
Ahmad said he was forced to insert a finger into his anus and lick it. He
was also forced to lick and chew a shoe. For some of the interrogation
tissue paper was placed in his mouth and he had difficulty breathing and
speaking. Sattar too said he was forced to insert a finger into his anus and
lick it. He was then told to insert this finger in his nose during
questioning, still kneeling with his feet off the ground and his other arm
in the air. The Arab interpreter told him he looked like an elephant. ...

"Ahmad and Sattar both said that they were given badges with the letter 'C'
on it. They did not know what the badges meant but whenever they were being
taken from one place to another in the base, if any soldier saw their badge
they would stop to slap them or hurl abuse.

"The four were moved about half way through their detention to another camp.
Because they had totally lost track of time by this stage all are hazy about
exactly when this was. But according to an e-mail I received on the morning
of Sunday January 4 from Captain Ryan Derouin, my point of contact at FOB
Volturno who I had met in person there the day before, they were transferred
at around 0900 local time on January 4 to the 3rd Brigade Detention Facility
at St Mere, next to the Volturno base, for 'further processing.'

"When they were leaving the first base, soldiers were laughing and saying
'Cuba, Cuba.' Ahmad and Sattar say that they were initially cuffed and had
bags placed over their heads and made to lie on the ground with barbed wire
all around them. They were told that if they raised their heads or touched
the barbed wire it would be very dangerous for them.

"Ahmad and Sattar say that when they were finally taken into the second
base, they were treated better. They were given adequate bedding and their
interrogation sessions were less intense. Ahmad says at one point he was
allowed to rest in a warm and comfortable tent.

"Salem, Ahmad and Sattar say that their detention ended when the numbers
they were assigned were called out. ..."


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Greg Mitchell (gmitchell at editorandpublisher.com) is editor of E&P.