Iraq-USA: Abdenasser Hassan, tortured by U.S. forces in Iraq
Abdenasser Ahmed Hassan (عبد الناصر أحمد حسن), was born in 1968 and is a Palestinian merchant living in Lebanon. He was arrested on 1 August 2003 in Karah, Iraq by U.S. section #101 of the coalition forces, and led directly to a detention camp on the U.S. military base near Baghdad International Airport and then transferred three days later to Abu Ghraib prison.
During his detention at Abu Ghraib, Abdenasser Hassan was repeatedly tortured by the U.S. forces, and then released on 25 January 2004 when they admitted that he had been "accidentally arrested".
He was once again arrested on 18 February 2005 by U.S. forces in Iraq and detained in Badush prison, Mosul. Throughout his detention he never underwent any legal proceedings. He then was transferred between Kal'et Souah prison, northern Iraq and Arrassafi prison before being released on 6 August 2009. Two weeks later, on 22 August 2009, Abdenasser Hassan managed to return to Lebanon with the help of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Not only during his detention in Abu Ghraib, but elsewhere, Abdenasser Hassan was subject to severe torture by U.S. forces, as well as other inhuman and degrading treatment. He is reported to have been beaten in front of other prisoners and to have electrocuted on several occasions. He was in fact systematically tortured with pepper spray; hooded and deprived of sleep of long periods; exposed to sunlight until his collapse; and held in a freezing cold cell. His torturers are code named "Coungar 5" and "Cougar 6".
Due to the torture inflicted upon him during his detention, Abdenasser Hassan not only suffers from post-dramatic stress disorder, but also has constant and excruciating physical pains caused by a fracture to his right shoulder and the loss of many of his teeth due to blows to the face; and as a consequence of long periods in handcuff, he now suffers from an acute pain to his right wrist, where his veins were cut by the cuffs.
The Committee against Torture has considered similar acts committed by the U.S. forces in Iraq and has criticized the United States for its involvement in "acts of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment committed by certain members of the State party's military or civilian personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq." CAT/C/USA/CO/2, 25 July 2006 para. 26.
The Committee also refers to the Abu Ghraib prison, asking the U.S. government to "comment on the information that the official investigations conducted into allegations of torture and ill-treatment in Afghanistan and Iraq, and especially in the Abu Ghraib prison, were not fully independent." CAT/C/USA/Q/2, February 8, 2006, para. 33.