Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ali Shalah, the hooded Iraqi prisoner in the most iconic picture from Abu Ghraib prison, described his harrowing experience during a conference in Malaysia this week. Arrested in 2003, Shalah said his American captors beat him, deprived him of sleep, and pelted him with human waste. On three occasions, he said, he was hooded and placed on a box, his outstretched arms attached to electrodes. “As the electric current entered my whole body, I felt as if my eyes were being forced out and sparks were flying out,” Shalah said. “My teeth were clattering violently and my legs shaking violently as well.” After a few months, he said, U.S. soldiers realized he was not an insurgent and let him go without an apology. He now heads a group that advocates for Iraqi torture victims. Eleven enlisted personnel have been convicted of charges stemming from abuses at Abu Ghraib. Several officers have been reprimanded, while charges against one are pending.
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