BAGHDAD,
February 8 (IslamOnline.net) – The US occupation forces in Iraq are
abusing Iraqi detainees and tearing up the Noble Qur’an, according
to a message on a piece of cloth Iraqi detainees in the
US-administrated Bucca detention camp in southern Iraq managed to
sneak outside.
The
message also presented another version of events leading up to the
killing of four Iraqi detainees by US forces at the camp on the eve of
January 30 controversial elections, an incident that also left six
prisoners injured.
“After
a short break in the prison’s court, the detainees returned to their
cells in the Bucca prison to find copies of the Noble Qur’an torn to
pieces,” citing the message, Abdul Salam Al-Kubaisi, spokesman of
the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), told a press conference in
Baghdad Monday, February 7.
The
provocation led detainees to organize a peaceful demonstration,
throwing stones at the US jailers, but the US soldiers opened fire at
the detainees, he said, citing the words on the piece of cloth.
According
to the US version, four Iraqi prisoners were killed and six others
injured January 29, in clashes that erupted after a riot by detainees.
The
US occupation forces claimed that acts of riots had erupted after a
routine inspection operation, adding that “the clashes spread
immediately” when the prisoners started to throw stones and objects.
The
camp guards – only after trying to stop the clashes by warning shots
and using non-deadly weapons -- opened fire to end the clashes, the US
forces had claimed.
New
Abuses
The
message, signed by some 5,200 Iraqi detainees, also revealed new
abuses by US occupation forces against the Iraqi detainees in the
US-administrated camp.
“The
Americans are breaking the detainees’ legs, crushing their toes and
putting them in cold places. They also force them to practice sex and
urinate over their heads,” Al-Kubaisi said, citing the message.
The
AMS spokesman denied claims of the US occupation forces that the Iraqi
detainees in the Bucca camp are members of the Iraqi resistance.
“Less
than 10% of detainees in the Bucca prison are members of the Iraqi
resistance.”
Thousands
of Iraqi detainees are held by the US occupation forces in the Bucca
detention camp in the south.
Relatives
of the Iraqi detainees in Bucca had organized a four-day sit-in in
July 2004, near the prison in a bid to draw the world’s attention to
the US abuses against detainees held in the camp under summer
temperatures that can soar up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees
Fahrenheit).
UN
human rights officials have repeatedly raised concerns about detainees
held in the US military base in Guantanamo Bay as well as abuse in the
US-run Abu Ghraib Jail in Baghdad after the occupation of the oil-rich
Arab country.
In
June, the HRW issued a report entitled
