Drain Magazine, Issue 9: Cruelty

Winter 2007

DO YOU REMEMBER?
VISUAL DEBRIEFINGS FROM IRAQ

Daniel Heyman

The following transcripts are taken from the watercolor book I made while sitting in on interviews of Iraqi men who were recently detained and abused in Iraq and released without charge by the American occupying forces. The interviews took place between July 29, 2007 and July 31, 2007, and were directed by Susan Burke, of Burke O’Neil LLC who is prosecuting a case for assault and battery, sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring. Please note that I have tried not to stray from the text as I wrote it in Istanbul, and when I do I put any additions or clarifications in [brackets]. There are times also when the voice of the narrative changes from first person to third person. This reflects a change in the way the interpreter translated the spoken testimony.

First Testimony

I trust you totally and thank you for doing this work.

I was sleeping in the same room as my brother. I was sleeping, he was studying for exams.

I was so scared. The night I was arrested my mother was screaming and my niece (3) was also hit and crying. I was many hours in the car – I thought at any time they would shoot me. I didn’t do anything to deserve that. I lost a year and a half of my life for nothing. We drove all night.
There was a big man. I was scared of this big man. He told me to take off all my clothes. Then I was brought into a horrible place for your days. A room, 4’ tall, and not big enough to straighten my legs. 3 times a day I left for the bathroom. I fell asleep because of the pain. On the 4th day I heard the voice of a female. She said to him, if you make a sudden move, this man will kill you. (The Egyptian). She asked, “Do you know any terrorists? When you drive your taxi, have you come across terrorists and attacks against Americans?”
I said “No.”

She said, “”You are lying. We have the ways and means to make you tell the truth.” I said, “ What are you talking about? I only drive my taxi.”
They took him to another room and they started to beat him – there were 3. The two civilians did the hitting – after the military person left they hit him harder. With a baton – a wooden stick. Even now when I drink, it hurts.
The female fish said I will help you, let you see your father and your brothers. I asked if my mother was also here. No. In five minutes they brought my two younger brothers and my father. My father had a black eye. His brothers were also beaten.

His father has diabetes, and wounds don’t heal. He had a wound on his foot, and you could see the bone. We were put in a cell together. Four days together.
They took his father late at night when we were asleep. On the second day they took away one of the brothers. On the fourth day they (he and the remaining brother) were rejoined with the father and brother. We thought we were going home but instead of the “Happy Bus” we went to Abu Ghraib. At A.G. we were asked to take off our clothes. We refused. A guard hit my father. I attacked this man. They took him [me] apart and beat him [me] and shot around him [me]. He was scarred (showed us) from the stones that flew because of the bullets. I had to take off my clothes.

Susan, Do you have a daughter? One day if I meet her, I will tell her to be very proud of her mother. We will never forget what you are doing for us.

I was punished for talking to my father. I was hung by my arms for a whole day. The man who did this was big. He was tall, a black. My father was forced to clean the yard. I was forced to watch. The big problem at A. G. was the toilets. Have you seen the toilets for A.G.? They were very small and high and even to put a small thing in made it over-flow. We were made to scoop out these toilets 3 times during 5 days. I was wearing a bag that was used for soil before on him. I was naked hanging in front of the cell so everyone could see me for the one whole day.

The soldiers wanted to provoke us, so they could shoot us. They stepped on the Koran, tore up the Koran. It was cold and they put our mattresses in the mud and rain. We had to sleep on the wet mattresses.

I was released in January of 2006. Arrested 11/04. My father was released after 7 months in prison. My brothers were released in June 2006. “Were you ever told why you were being held?” No. All they said was “I am sorry” the day before I left. For a year and a half of my life lost.

Second Testimony


Do you remember this night?

I lost my consciousness and they did this to me. I was in my cell, a broken toothbrush in my hand. The soldiers could see me playing with the toothbrush. The soldiers said, “What is this?” I said I found it in the cell. They said I want to kill American soldiers with this [tooth] brush. They took everything from me, including my clothes. I could not pray. They left me 3 hours tied outside my cell. The next day I saw the Red Cross. The next night they said I was Tarzan, that I wanted to kill a black American.
My hands were tied up behind me. Tied up like this and Graner pushed my head down. There was urine on the floor – this much [holding up two fingers] and I had grown a beard since I was in prison. And Graner put my beard in the urine.

England put a broom in my private parts. After my hand was broken [fingers stepped on by England]. I passed out. Then she dragged me.
I can tell you one new incident per day because I stayed in Abu Ghraib 5/9/03 to 7/1/04. Then in Booka [sic – Bucca] 1 July 04 to 16 December 04.
I am ready whenever you want to meet I will come. If I can I will come. I have many problems now in Iraq.

Third Testimony

I was a teacher in Iraq . I had 5 children – one of them killed by the Americans. I was in prison for political reasons for 8 months under Sadam. I was mistreated. It was a basic thing to be tortured, so of course I was tortured. If not, this would not have been normal. I was president of Human Rights in Iraq. It was the Association of Islamic Scholars. They came in the office and shouted, “Where is the hostage?” and they broke these teeth with their weapons. I have scars in my mouth.

I want to tell you about the 4th session. “Where is Jen Carroll?”

More than three months after Jen Carroll was released she was dancing in a disco. I was still in Booka [sic – Camp Bucca]. Then “Happy Bus.” There were 450 prisoners to be released and they shackled us with chains. We were pushed into buses, and brought to Abu Ghraib – section for release. They asked us if we had been tortured. The ones who said yes were sent back to prison. So I signed that I was not tortured.

When [we] went to the W.C., they beat us as we walked and they counted 1,2,3…60 and then we had to be finished. The interrogator said I was wrongly arrested. They took me to the hospital in Abu Ghraib and had an operation. I was naked at Abu Ghraib, and they asked, “What is that?” and they said I needed an operation right away. Do you want to see the scar? Here. [about 7”]

The operation was Tuesday and I left [the hospital] Wednesday. I went again to Cougar 6. It was raining and I fell and it got infected for one month. I thought “why I could not stay in hospital?”

She [the interrogator] asked if I thought the Americans came for democracy or for oil.

Fourth Testimony

When they stormed the room, one of the soldiers hit me with his weapon and broke my rib.

I was handcuffed, hands behind my back, for 16 days. Even my shoulders were swollen with blood.

When he was asked a question by the interrogator, a translator translated and a 3rd man banged his head against the wall, after every question. This went on for an hour, and then I passed out. His forehead bled for a month.

Before I was arrested, I was engaged. And because of the arrest the family refused me. They accused me of being a terrorist. Now I am married, but not to the woman I love.

THE BLACK DAY: They took us in a Hummer and drove us to a helicopter and threw [us] in a pile. All bodies on top, underneath – the pressure made his ears bleed. When we landed we were all naked, made to look at each other. There were some elderly men. The blindfold was not just the eyes, but a large cloth tied with plastic and it was hard to breathe.

Then they brought black box[es] (6’ long, 2’ high, 2+’ wide) and I was put in the box. [These were horizontal on the ground]. A black box, for 16 days. We were taken out two times a day. The floor was covered with these boxes. They threw in food that smelled disgusting. He only ate one biscuit a day – his hands were handcuffed in front of him for eating then put [back] behind [him]. Every 3 days, because I was so weak, they took me out of the box, and gave me an I.V. drip. For 16 days, I never went to the toilet.

His eyes were constantly covered.

When we walked to the toilet they put his head in a metal bell, and hit it very hard. I couldn’t hear. For the 16 days every 20 minutes someone would kick the box, hard. I was hearing the other boxes being kicked, and I was counting until my box would be kicked.

At A.G. I felt the lice eating my flesh, under my skin, but I didn’t tell anyone because they would put something on my skin and leave me in the sun naked for hours. I took metal and scraped at my skin, trying to dig out the lice. I would not sleep with the others in the tent so they would not get the lice. I told people in my tent I was sleeping in another tent, and I stayed outside.

Last week my two brothers were arrested. I don’t know where they are.

Arrested: January 7, 2006. 6 months in prison. Released June 23, 2006.

Fifth Testimony

I did not have a job when I was arrested. Before the occupation I was in the military – 8 years. I was not married at that time. They knocked the door. I opened the door. They asked for K. and took him, gun on his chest, tied him up, put a hood. They did the same to me. It lasted less than 5 minutes. We were kept hooded and cuffed out in the street from 9pm until 2 or 3am.

23 November 2003 – out of Booker [Camp Bucca] April 2006 (May 9, 2006) May 10 released.

She (female interrogator) asked me, “Why did they arrest you?”
I said it was for her to ask why I was arrested. She said, “We found your finger prints on something that was exploded.”

I said, “How did you [find] finger prints on something that was exploded?”The female interpreter hit me on the head. Two days later I was [sic] interrogator who beat me with his fist. I was sitting, hands cuffed behind me. The second time hit [sic] hit me I fell down. Two questions only. On the ground he continued beating me. He said I would be in prison my whole life. The interrogation continued. After two days, the same beatings. I stayed 17 days in the police station and was interrogated and beat 7 or 8 times. The beatings became worse and worse. They called my number and took me in a bus to the airport. There I could not recognize the days and the nights. They would send a soldier to my cell who would beat me until I passed out. Then I would wake up in the interrogation.

There were three interrogators there at the airport. But one was the worst. He was tall, and strong. He was black. After each interrogation they carried me back because I could not walked [sic]. They threw me passed out in my room. Two or three interrogations per day, for about 1 month. After this month they took me to Abu Ghraib. First they got me naked and chained me to the cell. I was tied in this way, for 6 months. It was winter and cold and they put a fan on and sprayed me with water. When they came to interrogate me they brought the dogs. Sometimes I was chained on the ground.

Even when I had my meal, my hands were cuffed in front.

They brought the dog to bark at my cell. I was tied to the cell bars every day 6 hours. The dog barked at me half an hour. I could hear the dog [was] also brought to the other cells. 6 hours but in 2 hour segments. When I was not chained there was a metal bed. I was 6 months with no clothes.
After the last interrogation they told me they found no evidence against me. After 7 months of beatings and interrogations. Then I was taken to Camp Cougar 1 month, about, and then 7 or maybe 8 months in Booker [Camp Bucca].

I am very depressed, not normal. I spend a lot of time alone. My family understands this.

“Have any other Americans ever asked what happened to you?” No.
“Did the Red Cross ever come talk to you in the cell?” No.
“In the tents?” Yes, but I didn’t tell them anything because I was so afraid I would be tortured again. It was a big group setting.
Released from Booker [Camp Bucca] May 10, 2006

Back to Abu Ghraib, released May 11, 2006. They gave me 20 dollars.

Sixth Testimony

He graduated in 2000. He got the highest dental grades for the year in Iraq. He worked for the Ministry of Health then the Ministry of Ed[ucation].

He is 29. Arrest: 12/17/04. Arrested at 3Am. His two brothers were also arrested. 70 or more soldiers in uniform [surrounded the house]. He went to the door and asked what the problem was, and opened the door and 70+ soldiers stormed in.
Taken outside, handcuffed make to lie face down. They searched the house, brought him his tools.

“What are these?”

“My tools. I am a dentist.”

They grabbed my brother (younger) and smashed his head on the ground.
“Do you know this man in the photo?”

I said yes only to make them stop hurting my brother. They walked with me to find the man’s house. I didn’t know this man. They held a knife to my throat.

[I] was kept for 11 days with 60 people in one room at Falcon Base. Interrogated one time. Female and male both. No interpreter – I speak English. They said I would be released but on the 11h day they took me to A.G. #167247
After interrogation, I went to Crougar 4 [Camp Kropper, unit 4]. Each tent in Crougar 4 was separated by concertina wire. [The] worst treatment was in 5, got better as the # got lower.

My father lives in Jordan. My mother is dead, and I am responsible for my brothers and sister. I am responsible for them, for everything. These are not my brothers, I think they are my sons.

A man was screaming so they put him in a cage to punish him. In his sleep – he was [went] crazy. I was asked to translate They woke the man up and tried to take his blood pressure, he would not stop screaming and they beat him in front of me.

I went back to A.G. for two weeks. Camp 1. There were ~ 300 babies – I called them babies – between 7 – 17 years old.

Transferred to Booker [Camp Bucca] – 3 months. They starved in Abu Ghraib – sometimes 2 or 3 days no bread, just cheese. At Booker [Camp Bucca] the food was better.

They gave us a “Man dress” and $20 and I read and signed 3 pages [of a legal form] but I could only see 1 of them [the pages]. Things like:
· I was not mistreated
· I had the right to….

I signed. I was released. 4 months later I was re-arrested with my brother. I was just married.

April 2007
This arrest was very bad, worse than the first. I heard soldiers on the roof. The house was surrounded. My wife asked “What’s wrong?”

I told them to come in. They told my wife to remove her scarf and veil. She refused. [We are religious and she didn’t understand why she would have to remove her scarf.] I had to remove it by force because she didn’t know, like I did, how bad it could be. Also for my sister. My wife was 21, pregnant in the 8th month.

They destroyed everything in my house. Broke every window. They took the money I was saving, the gold I bought for my wife for our weeding 8 months ago. They destroyed the new bedroom set (also for wedding) and they destroyed the house.

They asked if I knew about 5 people. I did not know them, they said that they would take my wife alone in another room alone and you know what will happen. The same for my sister in law. They took me and my little brother and my sister in law, and they put me in a kind of suit that kept my arms out. Them we were put in a Humvee, 1⁄2 an hour, and put in a kind of stall – wooden – I couldn’t stand. They would beat me. You had to lie down but you could not stretch your legs. 3 hours hands cuffed in front, 3 behind.

Interrogation: I lost knowledge of time. The room was padded all over. 3 people. Third guy – body builder – dark guy – he hit me in the abdomen, choked me until I thought I would die. I started crying.

“Stop crying. I will bring 3 guys and we will fuck your ass until Monday.” [He] asked me about names of people I don’t know.

“Get the guys,” he screamed. “Get him ready.”

Then there was only the female. She asked me [about the names] and I asked her, “Is this how you treat humans?”

I am kept in a very small wooden room. Later went again to Kropper then Bucca then again Kropper.

At Kropper, May 2007 If you went with five others [in the yard] they shoot you with air pellets. There are yellow and red lines rear the barbed wire fence. If you cross the yellow line they shoot your right away. This happen[s] many times a day. Everyone is mistreated.

Held in Kropper 57 days until May 29, 2007.

My wife doesn’t know anything about this. When I try I cry or something and she doesn’t need to worry. And she has a small baby.

[This man came to Istanbul with his wife and 72 day old baby, and planned to go back to Iraq at the end of the week.]

For the past four years, Daniel Heyman has concentrated his art on making images about the war in Iraq, specifically the abuse and torture of innocent Iraqis at Abu Ghraib and other prisons. For this work, Heyman traveled to Jordan and Turkey where he has talked face to face with over 25 former detainees, painting their portraits and taking down their own versions of what happened to them at the hands of the American captors. Three of these detainees have since been killed in the war.

The following museums and libraries have acquired portfolios of this work: Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Yale University Art Gallery, Baltimore Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum; Hood Museum of Art, Free Library of Philadelphia, Spencer Museum of Art; Smith College Art Museum; Vassar College Art Museum; Davidson Art Center, Wesleyan University; Davis Art Museum, Wellesley College; and the Special Collections Library at American University.

Heyman’s work has been shown widely both in Philadelphia and nationally. Upcoming exhibitions of his work will be held at the Renaissance Society, Chicago; DePaul University Museum of Art, Chicago; Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz; the New York Public Library and the North Dakota Museum of Art.
His work was featured in “Male Desire: Homosexual Desire in American Art,” (Harry Abrams, ’05)by Jonathan Weinberg. Heyman holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania, and currently teaches at Swarthmore and RISD. He grew up on Long Island.