By
Samir Haddad & Mazen Ghazi, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD, June 6 (IslamOnline.net) – More than 20 Iraqi plastic artists have
organized a two-hour exhibition to showcase a remarkable collection of
works giving a revealing
insight into abuses by U.S. soldiers of Iraqi detainees in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.
The
collection, which included paintings, statues and porcelain sculpture,
was displayed for only two hours in one of Baghdad's streets,
"for fear of reprisal" by the occupation forces.
"Iraqi
artists are crying out loud against the humiliation, torture and rape
of Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison," said Ghazwan
Al-Mukhtar, of the Iraqi Plastic Art Association.
"We,
artists, deal with feelings and facial gestures, which helps us grasp
the extent of brutality seeing an American female soldier grinning
before the body of a tortured Iraqi detainee," Al-Mukhtar told
IslamOnline.net.
The
Iraqi abuse scandal exploded onto the world stage on April 29 after
the CBS news network published several graphic
photos of Iraqi detainees tortured and sexually abused
by U.S. soldiers.
The
images "include an American soldier having sex with a female
Iraqi detainee and American soldiers watching Iraqis have sex with
juveniles," reported
the Newsweek in its May 10-17 issue.
The
Washington Post on Friday, May 21, a new photo gallery and a
video clip of Iraqis being beaten and sexually humiliated and
sworn testimonies by assaulted prisoners. (Click
here to read the statements).
Asked
whether the collection can be exhibited in other famous areas of Baghdad
or outside Abu Ghraib prison, Al-Mukhtar stressed that Iraqi artists
"fear the American military reaction to this".
"We
had intended our works for public display on the back of vehicles
driving through the streets of Baghdad. But we were deterred by a possible retaliation from the
Americans".
Late
in May, a San Francisco gallery owner was forced to close her exhibition after being attacked
by an unknown assailant for displaying a painting that depicts U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqi detainees.
The
painting, titled "Abuse," shows three U.S. soldiers leering at a group of naked men in hoods with wires connected
to their bodies.
The
one in the foreground has a blood-spattered American flag patch on his
uniform.
In
the background, a soldier in sunglasses guards a blindfolded woman.
Defiant
The
defiant Iraqi artists were keen to highlight the suffering of Iraqi
detainees at the hands of the U.S. soldiers.
"As
part of this society, and with relatives who suffered from the
brutality of the American forces, we want to show this through our
works," said Sami Al-Saedi, fingering one of his paintings.
The
exhibition is part of a larger campaign by plastic artists in which
more than 100 artists from Iraq and Arab countries are expected to join hands, he added, falling short
of giving a date.
For
Hanan Al-Abeidi, her participation was a message of wrath vis-ŕ-vis
the U.S. military violations in Abu Ghraib.
She
also conveyed the torture of Iraqi females in the notorious prison.
"As
a woman, I feel how the detainees suffered and how their dignity and
honor were violated".
Al-Abeidi
regretted the "shameful " reaction of the international
community "which only splashed out words of condemnation".
In
a damning report presented to the administration in February, U.S.
Major General Antonio Taguba found numerous "sadistic,
blatant and wanton criminal abuses" at a U.S.-run
prison complex near Baghdad.
Taking
a responsibility for the incidents, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld told a stormy hearing of the House and Senate Armed Services
Committees in mid-May he saw more "blatantly sadistic"
photos and videos of Iraqi detainees than those already published.
The
American New Yorker magazine dropped a bombshell Sunday, May
16, saying the torture was
okayed by Rumsfeld.
Iraqi
prisoners who were set free from Abu Ghraib prison had called for
issuing an international arrest warrant for Rumsfeld and his
trial over their abuse.
