Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 11. maj 2004 / Time Line May 11, 2004
Version 3.005/11/2004
A Double Ordeal for Female Prisoners
By Tracy Wilkinson
L.A. Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD — One woman told her attorney she was forced to
disrobe in front of male prison guards. After much coaxing, another
woman described how she was raped by U.S. soldiers. Then she
fainted.
A U.S. Army report on abuses at Abu Ghraib prison documented one
case of an American guard sexually abusing a female detainee, and a
Pentagon spokesman said Monday that 1,200 unreleased images of
abuse at Abu Ghraib included "inappropriate behavior of a sexual
nature."
Whether it was one or numerous cases of rape, many Iraqis believe
that sexual abuse of women in U.S.-run jails was rampant. As a
result, female prisoners face grave prospects after they are
released: denial, ostracism or even death.
A woman who is raped brings shame on her family in the Islamic
world. In many cases, rape victims have been killed by their
relatives to salvage family honor, although there is no evidence
this has happened to women who have been prisoners in Iraq.
"It is like being sentenced to death," said Sheik Mohammed Bashar
Faydhi, a senior cleric based at Baghdad's largest Sunni
mosque.
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