Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 51122 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 04MANAMA809, REQUEST FOR PRESS GUIDANCE ON ALLEGED ABUSE OF

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #04MANAMA809.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
04MANAMA809 2004-05-30 14:22 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Manama
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS MANAMA 000809 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
CPA BAGHDAD FOR CPIC 
USCINCCENT FOR PAO AND POLAD 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD MQUINN, ACASPER, PAGNEW; NEA/ARP 
LONDON FOR HAMBLEY AND NKHOURY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KPAO BA
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR PRESS GUIDANCE ON ALLEGED ABUSE OF 
FEMALE IRAQI POWS 
 
 
1.  Embassy Manama requests guidance to respond to press 
accounts about abuse of female POWs in prisons in Iraq. 
Several stories ran on the front pages of Bahrain's 
Arabic and English language dailies on 5/29 (see para 
three for headlines), quoting sources in Baghdad about 
the rape of female prisoners.  These sources included the 
two Iraqi NGOs, "The Union of Detainees and Prisoners" 
and "International Occupation Watch Center," and 
professors at Baghdad University.  The Gulf Daily News 
reported, "a mother a four, arrested in December, killed 
herself after being raped by US guards in front of her 
husband."  The Bahrain Tribune reported, "According to 
Iman Khamas, head of the International Occupation Watch 
Center, a woman prisoner said her cellmate had been 
rendered unconscious for 48 hours.  She had been raped 
seventeen times in one day by Iraqi police in the 
presence of American soldiers."  Arabic daily Akhbar Al 
Khaleej also reported that, "several women POWs were 
killed by their families after coming out of Abu Ghraib 
pregnant due to rape." 
 
2.  In addition to the print press, Al Arabiya Satellite 
Channel carried an exclusive, seven-minute interview with 
recently-freed Iraqi woman POW Emtithal Al Qassimi on 
5/29 at 1300 (the interview was re-aired throughout the 
day and again on 5/30).  The ex-POW, in her late fifties, 
was dressed in a black hijab and she described her 
treatment and the treatment of other inmates in the 
Baghdad airport and later in Abu Ghraib.  She stated that 
she witnessed approximately 120 Iraqi prisoners being 
stripped down and then trampelled on by their American 
captors.  She also said that she had seen female 
prisoners sustain permanent damage, including partial 
paralysis, as a result of their injuries.  (Comment:  A 
PAS FSN reported that her mother burst into tears after 
watching the interview.) 
 
3.  Headlines: 
 
-  "Horrifying stories about raped Iraqi women prisoners 
in Abu Ghraib," Akhbar Al Khaleej 
 
-  "Terrifying Testimonies of Occupation Soldiers Raping 
Women Prisoners and the Tragic Fate of These Women," 
Akhbar Al Khaleej 
 
- "Women Raped at Abu Ghraib Jail" Bahrain Tribune 
 
- "Abu Ghraib at Centre of New Storm: Women Raped in 
Jail," Gulf Daily News 
 
4.  This request for guidance has been cleared by NAVCENT 
PAO. 
 
5.  Minimize considered. 
NEUMANN