Incident: Shahid detained by police at al-Najaf, interrogated, beaten

In early August, Dhia Fawzi Shahid is stopped by the police and army at a checkpoint. He is subsequently blindfolded and taken to al-Najaf Police Directorate. His story 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 five month's time.

Shahid claims that the following incidents occurred:

• He was beaten with cables
• He was suspended by his arms with his arms behind his back. This "Palestinian Hanging" resulted in the dislocation of one of his shoulders (c.f. the "Palestinian Hanging" of Abu Ghraib prisoner implicated in his death, entry on 17 February 2005).
• He observed police treading on prisoner's heads while they lay bound.