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The Iraqi Shoe-Thrower Released—Tells of Torture

Posted by DORIAN DE WIND in International, Places, Politics, Religion, Society, War.
Sep 16th, 2009 | Comments

iraqi shoethrower

Muntather Zaidi, the Iraqi television correspondent who became (in)famous when he hurled his shoes at then-President Bush yelling, “This is a gift from the Iraqis! This is the farewell kiss, you dog!” was released from an Iraqi prison yesterday.

Zaidi was sentenced to three years in prison, but his sentence was later shortened to one year and then the judiciary ordered him released this month.

According to the LA Times, at a news conference In Baghdad upon his release, Zaidi told reporters that he was beaten, whipped and shocked during his first day of incarceration.

Also according to the Times, Zaidi claimed:

The Iraqi prime minister was shown in the media saying he did not sleep until he checked on me, and then only after I found a comfortable bed and a cover, [but] at these moments when he was speaking I was getting tortured in the most terrible ways possible, by electric shock, beatings by cables, being beaten by steel bars.

Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, we were all too well aware of Saddam Hussein’s torture chambers, human rights violations and of his disdain for justice and for international law.

Of all the reasons given by the Bush administration for going to war against Iraq, perhaps the only credible and semi-justifiable one might have been to bring a modicum of democracy, justice and freedom to that country.

If we believe Zaidi, even that one noble goal may not have been achieved.

But why should we believe this man, you ask. After all, he has shown contempt both for his “liberators” and for his own government.

However, Zaidi is not the only one who claims that injustice and torture are still rampant in Iraqi society.

A United Nations human rights report released by the United Nations on April 29, 2009, covering the period July to December 2008, shows that torture of prisoners by Iraqi authorities is still widespread and that this “lack of accountability of the perpetrators of such human rights abuses reinforces the culture of impunity.”

The report expresses concern over

The overall human rights situation in Iraq since indiscriminate attacks remained a frequent occurrence; the targeted killings of security forces, high ranking officials and civil servants, religious and political leaders, professional groups such as journalists, educators, medical doctors, judges and lawyers and other civilians continued at a high rate, as did criminal abductions for ransom.

More specifically, with regards to the situation in prisons and detention centers, UNAMI (UN Assistance Mission for Iraq) raises concerns over:

The conditions of detainees, many of whom have been deprived of their liberty for months or even years in overcrowded cells, and about violations of the minimum rules of due process as many did not have access to defence counsel, or were not formally charged with a crime or appeared before a judge. UNAMI/HRO received credible reports of allegations of torture and ill-treatment in pre-trial detention in Iraqi detention facilities

The report also shows that gender-based violence remains one of the key unaddressed problems throughout Iraq:

Numerous murders of women under the guise of so-called “honour killings” are still being recorded as suicides… while in the Northern Region of Kurdistan the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) remains a tolerated practice.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated: “The situation of Iraqi women is extremely difficult. Violent actions are taken against them on a daily basis and I urge the authorities to make it a priority to both improve legislation, and law enforcement in order to protect them properly.”

Yesterday, Zaidi left for Greece to seek medical treatment.

According to the Times, “The bespectacled Zaidi promised to later reveal the names of the government officials and Iraqi army officers who beat him. Zaidi, 30, also heaped scorn on Iraqi politicians for the treatment of detainees.”

His final words from the podium:

I would like to remind the lords and those in charge in politics that there are hundreds and thousands of victims, all because of secret informers, that have been residing in those dungeons for years with no trials or [judicial] review. They have been brought from houses and streets and been sent to those prisons. Here I am — in front of you, in front of God and in front of them, maybe they [the politicians] might listen to me.

Image: Courtesy dailymail.co.uk

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tidbits

Zaidi's conduct, the shoe throwing incident, causes one to wonder about his stability and/or potential attention seeking. His remarks, personal in nature and perhaps with an ax to grind, would require some verification.

The UN report carries much more credibility, but, unfortunately, does not come as a surprise. Culture is always slow to change, and much of this is cultural. Iraq is a country that has not been "governed" in more than a generation; instead it has been "controlled" by brute force. That this culture of control should change merely because a democratic superpower invaded and attempted to impose western democratic principles was always wishful thinking.

It is important to remember that Iraq is, and always has been, an artificial country, cobbled together under British colonial rule without regard to the inherent hatreds, distrusts and desires to dominate and destroy one another among Sunni, Shiite and Kurd. This is why the invasion was folly from the beginning The autonomous division of Iraq prior to the invasion, with no-fly zones north and south, rendered Saddam little more than the governor of the Sunni Triangle. Bush 41 had it right to separate the country into quasi-autonomous regions.

The great mistake of US post-invasion strategy, under Bush 43, was a belief that the we could re-cobble the old British colonial artificial country without the sectarian hatreds, violence and oppression re-emerging, or that generations of "control" through brutality could be replaced with ethical "government" overnight.

Torture, lack of due process, brutality toward women. I would expect nothing less. No matter how sincerely or how hard our men and women work to produce a functioning, fair and equitable democracy, Iraq will remain an artificial country that relies on brute force to maintain whatever semblance of order it can produce.

D. E.Rodriguez

Tidbits:

I agree with everything you say, especially with your observation that "culture is always slow to change."

If, and that's a big IF, bringing about justice, democracy, true freedom to the Iraqis (through the power of a gun) was one of our objectives, then we failed miserably and a priori by thinking that we would change a culture (and one so intricately tied witrh religion---especially their justice system) in two years, or four years or eight years or twenty years.

Similarly with, as you so correctly point out, the re-cobbling of "the old British colonial artificial country without the sectarian hatreds, violence and oppression re-emerging, or that generations of 'control' through brutality could be replaced with ethical 'government' overnight."

My concern is that even the little progress we may have made in these areas (with the sacrifice of over 4,000 of our brave ones) will be for nought upon our departure.

What an unforgivable loss, what a shame, what a mistake of enormous proportions.

Thank you

Don Quijote

Zaidi's conduct, the shoe throwing incident, causes one to wonder about his stability and/or potential attention seeking.

Considering the stack of dead bodies the US is leaving behind in Iraq, throwing a shoe at Bush is perfectly understandable. (Throwing one at Clinton & Albright would also be understandable)

Madeleine Albright on CBS news in 1996

Lesley Stahl: We have heard that half a million children have died in Iraq. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price? We think the price is worth it.

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