Meet the plaintiffs, Detainees v. USA

Human Rights First, one of the organizations involved in the civil suit against US government officials (including Donald Rumsfeld) for abuses committed in Iraq and Afghanistan, has released biographical information on its eight plaintiffs. As reported earlier, four are Afghan and four are Iraqi. These men were carefully chosen as "model" plaintiffs, taking in account a number of factors.

Arkan Mohammed Ali is a 26-year-old Iraqi citizen... Ali continues to suffer the lasting effects of injuries incurred while in United States custody. Among other things, he has severe scars on his arm from the stabbing and burning he suffered. Ali also has frequent traumatic nightmares, and episodes of shortness of breath and an involuntary gulping reflex, which he never experienced prior to his detention.

Thahe Mohammed Sabbar is a 36-year-old Iraqi...Sabbar received frequent and severe beatings from U.S. military personnel. Soldiers used guns and an electric weapon to beat and shock Sabbar, and forced him and other detainees to run through a gauntlet of 10 to 20 uniformed soldiers, who screamed at them and beat them with wooden batons. Sabbar was also shackled to a fence with his hands behind his back and was left for several hours at temperatures exceeding 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition to physical abuse, Sabbar was sexually assaulted by U.S. military personnel. On one occasion, one or more soldiers inserted their fingers into Sabbar's anus and grabbed and fondled his buttocks while making moaning sounds and jeering at him. This was done in the presence of other soldiers, including females, in order to further degrade and demean Sabbar.

Soldiers also staged mock executions with Sabbar and other detainees to terrorize and humiliate them. During one such execution, Sabbar and others were forced to stand against a wall in front of a firing squad. The squad simulated gunfire and then laughed as the detainees lost control of their bladders. Sabbar was also threatened by soldiers who told him they would send him to Guantanamo, where he would be killed.

Throughout his detention, Sabbar was routinely deprived of food and water. At times, guards gave Sabbar and other detainees spoiled food, which caused some detainees to vomit. He was also kept shackled for extended periods and denied access to a toilet, causing him to soil his pants. As a result of this treatment, and of the sexual and physical abuse, Sabbar currently suffers from incontinence, impotence and nightmares.

Mehboob Ahmad is a 35-year-old citizen of Afghanistan... Ahmad was sexually and psychologically traumatized by U.S. military personnel. He was forced to strip and stay naked for long periods of time, was probed anally and was threatened with a snarling and barking dog at close range. Interrogators taunted Ahmad by directing insults at his mother and sister and implying that soldiers would rape his wife. He was also threatened with transport to Guantanamo.

Like other detainees, Ahmad was subjected to extreme sensory deprivation and isolation. He was forced to wear sound-blocking earphones; he was forced to wear black, opaque goggles almost continuously for more than a month, and was not allowed to speak with other detainees for the five months that he was in custody.

Sherzad Kamal Khalid is a 34-year-old Iraqi citizen who was detained by the United States military for approximately two months from July 2003 through September 2003. Khalid was held at various locations in Iraq where he was subjected to frequent and severe beatings, sexual abuse and other cruel treatment.

After his release from custody, Khalid accompanied fellow detainee Thahe Mohammed Sabbar back to Abu Ghraib. Sabbar sought the return of property confiscated from him by U.S. forces and also wished to inquire about a colleague who remained in custody. Both Khalid and Sabbar were detained in a locked room by military personnel and were then released without receiving any response to their inquiries. As a result, Khalid now fears that U.S. forces will detain him again if he pursues remedies for the injuries and losses he incurred at the hands of American military officials in Iraq.

More than a year after his release, Khalid continues to suffer from stomach ulcers as a result of an untreated stomach infection suffered while in detention. He also suffers from severe depression and nightmares.

Said Nabi Siddiqi is a 48-year-old citizen of Afghanistan... American forces also exploited Afghan cultural norms to further demean and degrade Siddiqi. Soldiers sexually humiliated Siddiqi by stripping him naked and taking photographs, and by probing his anus. During interrogations, soldiers made animal sounds and demanded to know which animals Siddiqi had sex with, and repeatedly told him that his wife was a slut and his daughter was a street beggar. Soldiers also threw stones at Siddiqi and other detainees while they used the toilet and forced them to publicly expose themselves.

Afghan citizen Mohammed Karim Shirullah, who is 45, was detained by United States military at various locations in Afghanistan, including the Bagram air base. He was detained for approximately six months, from December 2003 to June 2004.

Like other detainees, Shirullah was subjected to extreme sensory depravation and isolation. He was forced to wear black, opaque goggles and wrist restraints for more than two weeks. Military personnel also kept him in solitary confinement in a room with no windows for more than one month. For the entire time of his detention -- about six months -- Shirullah was forbidden from speaking with any other detainees.

Shirullah was also sexually and psychologically traumatized by U.S. military personnel. Soldiers stripped him naked, probed his anus and photographed him. Interrogators would also strip him naked and throw water on him during interrogations. As with other detainees, military personnel forced Shirullah to use an open toilet, with knowledge that such treatment would cause psychological suffering by Afghan cultural norms.

Haji Abdul Rahman is a 48-year-old citizen of Afghanistan. While in custody, American personnel deliberately inflicted pain on Rahman. During interrogation, soldiers forced Rahman to wear blackout goggles and kneel with his hands cuffed behind his back; soldiers then placed a chain through the handcuffs, which they repeatedly jerked to pull his arms and wrench his shoulders and wrists. He was forced to wear extreme restraints, blackout goggles and handcuffs for virtually the entire first month of his detention. After that first month, soldiers placed Rahman in solitary confinement for 15 days and made him wear blackout goggles and sound-deadening headphones for no reason other than to intimidate, humiliate and degrade him.

Iraqi high school student Ali H. was only 17 years old when he was detained by the U.S. military in August 2003. He was held in detention for four weeks at Abu Ghraib prison and other locations throughout Iraq. Ali still feels the effects of the debilitating physical and psychological injuries he sustained while in detention.

During his arrest and subsequent detention, Ali suffered excruciating pain and was subjected to degrading and inhuman treatment. Soldiers shot Ali in the neck and back and threw him to the ground before arresting him. Military personnel refused to provide medical care for Ali for hours after the arrest, even though he was bleeding profusely from two gunshot wounds. The bullets were eventually removed from Ali's neck and back in a brutal fashion and without anesthetic. He was then denied food, water and pain medication for almost two days after he was shot.

The pain inflicted on Ali continued well after the bullets were removed. While he was housed in an outdoor tent at Abu Ghraib, Ali received a life-threatening shrapnel wound during a mortar attack. Once again, military personnel refused to provide Ali with adequate medical care and pain medication. While recovering from abdominal surgery, military personnel intentionally inflicted further pain and torture on Ali. He was dragged roughly from one location to another and kept shackled hand and foot to a bed with a blanket placed over his face. He was then moved to another prison location where he was forced to sleep on the ground outdoors in extremely hot weather without any shelter, despite being in excruciating pain and having an intravenous tube in his arm. Military personnel refused to change the bandages on Ali's surgical wound, which became infected and leaked pus.