Red Cross: More Than 100 Children Imprisoned in Iraq, Report of Abuse by US soldiers

[Grojlach]

Originally reported by the very respectable German magazine Der Spiegel. The original article is (naturally) in German, but as far as I can tell, despite the obvious biased nature of the site an sich, Information Clearing House seems to have a fair translation of the German article up on their site. Also, for those trying to brush up on their German, Here is a transcript of the report as it was shown on German TV.

More Than 100 Children Imprisoned
Report Of Abuse By U.S. Soldiers

07/04/04 "Der Spiegel" -- (Translated by SAB, NY) -- According to information from the International Red Cross, more than a 100 children are imprisoned in Iraq, including in the infamous prison Abu Ghraib.

The German TV magazine "Report" revealed that there has been abuse of children and youth by the coalition forces.

Mainz - "Between January and May of this year we've registered 107 children, during 19 visits in 6 different detention locations" the representative of the International Red Cross, Florian Westphal, told the TV station SWR's Magazine "Report Mainz". He noted that these were places of detention controlled by coalition troops. According to Westphal the number of children held captive could be even higher.

The TV Magazine also reported of evidence and eye witness reports according to which U.S. soldiers also abused children and youthful detainees. Samuel Provance, a staff sergeant stationed in the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison said that interrogating officers had pressured a 15 or 16 year old girl. Military police had only intervened when the girl was already half undressed. On another occasion, a 16 year old was soaked with water, driven through the cold, and then smeared with mud.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, confirmed the detention of Iraqi children by foreign military according to "Report" which cited an interim memorandum by the organization, The as yet unreleased report, which is dated June 2004, is quoted as follows: "Children who were detained in the cities of Kerbala and Basra because of alleged activities against the occupying forces were reportedly routinely sent to a detention camp at Umm Kasr. The classification of these children as detainees is worrisome because it includes unspecified length of detention without contact to their families pending further proceedings or legal actions".

The German section of the human rights organization Amnesty International is demanding a clarification of the allegations and a response from the US government.

© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2004

Short rundown of the tv report, as described by someone on another forum who saw the documentary in question:

The issues raised in the investigative story were well researched and backed up not only by Amnesty International but also by UNICEF and the International Red Cross. It includes an interview with a US ex-guard in Abu Ghureib (I think they said he was a Marine but I'm not positive) who confirms torture of a 16 year old boy. It also contains very graphical descriptions (including drawings) of the repeated torture of a 12 year old girl, which spanned over several days (but confirmed for now only by an Iraq journalist). The TV piece closed with a somewhat resigned statement that until pictures surface the story will likely be ignored, denied, and not investigated.

Oh, and here is a response from the Norwegian government. Still waiting for American sources to pick it up, though. Feel free to be skeptical until then, just don't shoot the messenger.

[ 07-10-2004, 05:50 AM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

[promethius9594]

personally? who cares... i certainly don't.

i dont care if its a man, woman, child, or mentally deficient pregnant lady... if they are willing to strap a bomb on their chest and blow up a bunch of innocent people trying to feed their families (ie-- murder on a vast scale), then i say lock em up and throw away the key. hell, thats mercy compared to what i would do to them, regardless of age.

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by promethius9594: personally? who cares... i certainly don't. i dont care if its a man, woman, child, or mentally deficient pregnant lady... if they are willing to strap a bomb on their chest and blow up a bunch of innocent people trying to feed their families (ie-- murder on a vast scale), then i say lock em up and throw away the key. hell, thats mercy compared to what i would do to them, regardless of age.

Fair enough. I don't believe it was mentioned anywhere in the article that it concerns potential suicide bombers here, though.