While Ahmed Al-Mashhadani's story has all the hallmarks of common human rights case, it is not the archetypal example of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture; but rather, a complex mixture of circumstance: beginning with an attempted kidnapping by a militia group, followed by a U.S. military seizure, countless prison transfers, severe torture, ending with death threats and judicial corruption; during the entirety of which Mr Al-Mashhadani has never been informed of why he is being detained. He is truly a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

Two arrests, four detention centers, one prison, two trials, torture

Upon his initial arrest in Baghdad by militia forces, Mr Al-Mashhdani was threatened and thought he was going to be killed. In a twist of odd fate, his captor's vehicle was stopped by U.S. forces, who immediately became suspicious. The militia members told them that Mr Al-Mashhadani had been shooting mortars, but the U.S. soldiers didn't buy it, and took him into their custody.

After US forces arrested Mr Al-Mashhadani, they deposited him at Al-Taji police station, where he was tortured and detained for three months, until 3 December 2006, when he presented to the Al-Utafiya Court, which ordered his release.

Despite the release order, he was nonetheless taken to Al-Kazemia police station where he was kept in detention overnight. The next day he was transferred to Al-Khadra police station in Al-Salhiya, where he was tortured for two days until his transfer to the Camp Justice (also known as the Fifth Section) in early December 2006. During his four month detention at Camp Justice, the torture did not desist, yet he was able to receive visits from human rights organizations, the Red Crescent and the Ministry of Human Rights, who recorded his testimonies.

It was finally in April 2009 that Mr Al-Mashhadani was presented to the Judicial Committee, during which he raised a complaint of torture, which was in any case ignored. Following this, he was threatened in order to withdraw his complaint, which he refused. According to Alkarama's sources, the same individual who had threatened Mr Al-Mashhadani had also organized for court testimonies to be given by false witnesses. Eventually, Mr Al-Mashhadani request his transfer to Rusafa prison, in order to avoid further torture, and arrived there on 2 September 2009.

Rusafa prison and Iraq's never-ending road

Several months before his transfer, a BBC video montage was published on 25 November 2008, clearly showing the dismal conditions inside Rusafa prison. Iraq's second-in-command at the Ministry of the Interior admitted that there are overcrowding issues inside Iraqi prisons, but insisted that this was due to the increasing number of prisoners. He later conceded that there are these are "isolated cases of violations" and vouched to "punish those responsible".

While Iraq remains fraught with sectarian violence, ethnic struggle, and growing difficult with U.S. military presence, human rights violations have grown exponentially as each opposing force is looking to punish someone, which they are usually free to do with impunity. Al-Mashhadani's case, although unique in its scope, is not an isolated case. Alkarama submitted his case to the Special Rapporteur on Torture on 11 December 2009, and continues to gather more and more cases within the vast gamut of human rights violations that plague Iraq.