Posted on 11/26/2005 6:28:47 AM PST by InvisibleChurch
Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005 9:08 a.m. EST Saddam's Hangman Details Torture
One of Saddam Hussein's official hangmen is speaking to the media for the first time - offering a firsthand account of some of the torture techniques he used on Saddam's orders.
Recalling his time working at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, Abu Hussein [last name withheld] recalled that a new batch of political prisoners was brought in - without being charged with a crime - every week.
Deserters from Iraq's war with Iran faced the firing squad, the hangman told Reuters, while prisoners who had insulted Saddam were hanged because it was more cruel.
"A firing squad is more compassionate because people usually died immediately. But hanging is cruel because it can take time to die. If they don't die, we started over again," he said.
Death always came after weeks of torture, Abu Hussein said.
"Sometimes we would hang them upside down and beat their feet with clubs. Or we would electrocute them," he said.
"One of the worst things was putting 10 people in a one-square-meter room for weeks. They had a brief break every day and were allowed the toilet every three days," he said.
Three executions were carried out each Monday and Thursday. One day Saddam's feared son Uday showed up and asked about eight political prisoners standing nearby. He ordered their immediate execution, the ex-executioner told Reuters.
He recalled watching men writhe in agony as they died, which even he found upsetting. But nobody could afford to defy orders in Saddam's Iraq.
"We would have been killed on the spot," Abu Hussein said. "One time this executioner was one hour late in hanging someone and he was himself hanged."
Desmond is a pompous arse.
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