Real torture

By Thomas Lifson

The Bush-haters include alleged use of torture on detainees among their reasons why Amerika is already a fascist state headed toward dictatorship. They should read the accounts coming out from the 5 Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor recently released by Libya (on bogus charges) through the intervention of President and Mme Sarkozy of France.

Dr. Alhajouj speaks:

"For the first days I was locked up with three dogs who were ordered to attack me. My leg is full of scars and marks from where they bit me [and] I had a big hole in my knee," he said.

Later, he said, wire cable that had been stripped of its plastic coating, was wound round his penis and he was dragged "screaming and crying" across the floor. He was also given electric shocks with a generator-style machine.

"They put the minus cable on my finger and the plus cable on my ear or my genitals. The most painful thing was their ability to increase the speed of the electricity flow. When I fell unconscious they would throw cold water over my naked body and then begin all over again," he said. The torture times were set for between 5pm and 5am and continued for 13 months. The nurses were submitted to similar treatment."

His entire interview with Der Spiegel can be read in translation here. If the press is motivated by real concern over injustice, this will make headlines comparable to those used to publicize Abu Ghraib. If not, draw your own conclusions.

Hat tip: Peter Chowka