How Manadel al-Jamadi was killed in Abu Ghraib

Manadel al-Jamadi

Today, we have a new term to add to our ever-growing torture vocabulary list along with strappado and waterboarding. It's a technique called "Palestinian hanging," not because Palestinians do it, but because Palestinians are hung that way by Israelis.

Dr. Vincent Iacopino, director of research for Physicians for Human Rights, called the hyper-extension of the arms behind the back ``clear and simple torture.'' The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of torture in 1996 in a case of Palestinian hanging - a technique Iacopino said is used worldwide but named for its alleged use by Israel in the Palestinian territories.

I looked on B'Tselem's torture page, but they didn't have an illustration of a Palestinian hanging, so just imagine your arms shackled like this:


And then being hung by those shackles.

That's what happened to Manadel al-Jamadi, the man whose picture is held by his wife and son, below.

Here's an account of his last day:

Navy SEALs apprehended al-Jamadi as a suspect in the October 27, 2003, bombing of Red Cross offices in Baghdad that killed 12 people. His alleged role in the bombing is unclear. According to court documents and testimony, the SEALs punched, kicked and struck al-Jamadi with their rifles before handing him over to the CIA early on November 4. By 7am, al-Jamadi was dead.

This isn't the first time Navy SEALs have been implicated in torture.

Al-Jamadi was one of the CIA's ``ghost'' detainees at Abu Ghraib - prisoners being held secretly by the agency.

His death in November 2003 became public with the release of photos of Abu Ghraib guards giving a thumbs-up over his bruised and puffy-faced corpse, which had been packed in ice. One of those guards was Pvt. Charles Graner, who last month received 10 years in a military prison for abusing detainees.

Al-Jamadi died in a prison shower room during about a half-hour of questioning, before interrogators could extract any information, according to the documents, which consist of statements from Army prison guards to investigators with the military and the CIA's Inspector General's office.

One Army guard, Sgt. Jeffery Frost, said the prisoner's arms were stretched behind him in a way he had never before seen. Frost told investigators he was surprised al-Jamadi's arms ``didn't pop out of their sockets,'' according to a summary of his interview.

Frost and other guards had been summoned to reposition al-Jamadi, who an interrogator said was not cooperating. As the guards released the shackles and lowered al-Jamadi, blood gushed from his mouth ``as if a faucet had been turned on,'' according to the interview summary.

The military pathologist who ruled the case a homicide found several broken ribs and concluded al-Jamadi died from pressure to the chest and difficulty breathing.

Dr. Michael Baden, a distinguished civilian pathologist who reviewed the autopsy for a defense attorney in the case, agreed in an interview that the position in which al-Jamadi was suspended could have contributed to his death.

I checked the Corner to see if anyone had written that this was just like a frat hazing, but no one has, yet.

Comments

[Gegee]

The different between shitface, bride-of-shitface, et al and the SEALS, Mil Intel, CIA, [and contract civilian interogators] is that one group was not authorized to torture and the other group was authorized to torture. Those unauthorized are being prosecuted while those authorized will not be. It's as simple as that.

The CIA, Mil Intel, SpecOps, and all command officers in the US Military are sadistic brutish thugs. Is the world better off without Saddam in power. Maybe. Would the world be better off if every command officer in the US Military was in prison and W.Bush was standing trial for war crimes? Definately.

[Kevin Hayden]

Only if Cheney, Rummy et al are sharing the docket with him. And they should.

[Ryan Murphy]

"It's a technique called "Palestinian hanging," not because Palestinians do it, but because Palestinians are hung that way by Israelis."

I recall some time ago that Limbaugh said "we were learning the latest techniques to fight terrorism from the Israelis."

Yep, this is really useful in fighting "terrorism". Limbaugh should volunteer as a demostrator.

[Ticklebug]

I wouldn't show those torture pictures. The Republicans get too happy and may have to purchase a new keyboard.

[Cronus]

It's ironic that Israel uses the technique of hanging people with their arms tied behind their back -- I visited the concentration camp at Dachau in 1992, and there was a photograph in the museum of some Nazi soldiers hanging a Jewish prisoner from a tree in the exact same way. I honestly don't remember a single other picture in that museum, because that one has haunted me ever since I saw it. Somehow, for me, it captured the unspeakable cruelty of the Nazis even better than photos of bodies piled in heaps. I think the thing that made it so striking was the fact that the prisoner was looking right at the camera.

When I read about the US troops using this method the other day, I tried, without success, to find that photo online. But I did find references to the fact that the Nazis used the same technique. It's really sad that the US has sunk to that level.

[oldwhitelady]

Ohhhh, those pictures make me ill. Just thinking about doing such to another living being is horrible and evil.

[garodgers]

The US military certainly considered it a form of torture when the North Vietnamese interrogators would hang our POWs in that fashion.

[Martyr # 12]

Uhhhh, except the guy died from a concussion he received during his capture by Navy SEALs. He would have died from the undiagnosed concussion if his guards had put him up in the Ritz on some nice fluffy pillows, the damage had already been done.

By the way, the guy you're all getting sappy about, Mr. al-Jamadi, murdered 33 people (including 13 innocent folks at the Baghdad Red Cross HQ) on October 27, 2003...

...which makes him a great martyr for the Left's holy jihad against the Bush Administration!

[Poster]

Re: Posted by: garodgers | Monday, February 21, 2005 at 01:42 PM

Unfortunately, this sort of posting continues to be what passes for "rational discourse" on the "fair and balanced" right. A few corrections/modifications, for the record:

1.) To die from a "concussion" is-- happily for boxers, hockey players, football players, etc.-- an extremely rare event.
2.) There is NO evidence al-Jamadi suffered a concussion at the hands of his SEAL captors DURING his capture, although military trial testimony makes clear he was repeatedly punched and kicked in the head by them during his illegally-conducted detention and interrogation as a "ghost prisoner" at Abu Ghraib, leading directly to his death a brief time thereafter.
3.) The 10.27.03 bombing of Red Cross offices in Baghdad was reportedly perpetrated by a "suicide bomber"; al-Jamadi was obviously not that person.
4.) al-Jamadi was allegedly a "suspect"-- meaning, to patriotic Americans, at least, innocent until proven otherwise-- in the above-mentioned Bagdhad bombing. NO evidence has ever been presented against him in this regard, he (obviously) never stood trial for this crime, and his role in the bombing, if any, continues to be unknown.
5.) The death toll in the Red Cross bombing at issue, first set at 10 victims, was later revised to a total of 12.
6.) The closing statement, "...which makes him a great martyr for the Left's holy jihad against the Bush Administration!" is so clearly-- one would hope-- inane enough so as to stand as its own corrective.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manadel_al-Jamadi]