MEK detainees in Iraq "protected persons" under Geneva Conventions

The Mujahedin-e-Khalq (variously The People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) and National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA)) was designated a terrorist organisation by the US State Department. Amongst its more dubious actions, it was hosted by and supported Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, and played important roles in the violent suppression of Kurdish and Shiite uprisings in 1991 and 1999. In December 2003, it was ordered to leave Iraq by the US-appointed Iraqi leadership, which decried the "black history of this terrorist organization."

Today it will be reported that members of the MEK captured in Iraq and held in Camp Ashraf will be given the statues of "protected persons" under the Geneva Convention by the Pentagon. To receive this, the group of 3800 detainees signed an agreement denouncing violence. This was returned with a letter from General Miller addressed to the "people of Ashraf" warmly congratulating them on their new status, noting that the agreement "sends a strong signal and is a powerful first step on the road to your final individual disposition".

Notable amongst the protections afforded to MEK members by this decision is their protection from expulsion.

Meeting regarding alleged rape of juvenile detainee at Abu Ghraib

SAs from WFO met with members of U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division regarding the alleged rape of juvenile male detainee at Abu Ghraib prison.

This forms part of the documentation released on 15 December 2004 by FBI in response to an FOIA court order.

Incident: Group of 5 Iraqi men arrested, beaten, tortured

A group of five Iraqi men are arrested in al-Karrade district of Baghdad and taken to Criminal Intelligence Headquarters by Iraqi police. They are accused of being in the Mahdi Army. Their stories will be included in a report entitled The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody, which will be released by Human Rights Watch in six month's time.

One of them, Murtadha Mahdi claims the following incidents occurred:

• He was beaten with cables
• Cold water was poured on him and electrical wires were attached to his ears.

Another of them, Ali Rashid Abbadi, claims that the following incidents occurred:

• He was hit by police
• He was beaten with cables
• Cold water was poured on him and electrical wires were attached to his genitals and he was electrically shocked.
• They withheld his heart medication from him.
• He was eventually taken to the emergency ward because of increased blood pressure and difficulty breathing.

Others in their party had similar stories, and showed investigators recent scars to corroborate them.

Hersh makes serious allegations

Today, Seymour Hersh will give a lecture at a conference of the ACLU. He is quoted in a few places as saying

Some of the worst things that happened that you don't know about. OK? Videos. There are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at Abu Ghraib. ... The women were passing messages out saying please come and kill me because of what's happened ...

In addition, he will claim that children are being raped in Abu Ghraib. Continuing from above

and basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. And the worst above all of that is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror. It's going to come out

At lease one instance of this will be investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division in under one month's time (entry 27 July 2004).

Mercenaries

Today Afghan security forces will raid a makeshift jail in a house in Kabul. There, they will arrest three Americans accused of torturing Afghans in a freelance counterrorism mission. They are Jonathan K. Idema, Brett Bennett and Edward Caraballo. They will be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

During a hearing, afghans witnesses will give statements. Ghulam Safi will claim that:

• he was held for 18 days;
• boiling hot water was showered on him; and
• his possessions were stolen.

Ahmad Ali will claim that:

• his head was repeatedly immersed in a basin of water;
• he was beaten on the feet and stomach; and
• he was fed only two pieces of bread in one week.

Maulawi Sidiq will claim that he was:

• refused access to a toilet for 24 hours; and
• beaten.

Idema will claim that "the American authorities absolutely condoned what we did, they absolutely supported what we did", and that he was in regular phone and e-mail contact with Pentagon officials "at the highest level." However, these claims should be treated with caution, as Idema is a well-known fraud and media whore.