Report: Iraq torture chamber found
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The old tires protected the torturer while the victim stood on a wet floor and was electrocuted, a BBC reporter was told.
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Correspondent Clive Myrie reports on the British discovery of a southern Iraqi police station where some locals claim torture took place (April 2)
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SPECIAL REPORT
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ABU AL KHASIB, Iraq (CNN) -- A torture chamber equipped with hooks hanging from ceilings and an on-site electrocution room has been found in the basement of an Iraqi police station, an embedded reporter with the BBC reports.
The reporter said the British Royal Marines from Alpha Company 40 Commando entered the facility -- home to Saddam Hussein's dreaded internal security police -- looking for clues about local militia groups.
Weapons, maps and other documents were found in the raid in the town of Abu Al Khasib, the BBC reporter said Wednesday. But it was downstairs where they found the torture chamber.
One room was completely bare, except for two tires and an electric cable, the BBC reporter said.
He said he was told that an interrogator would use the tires to stand on, while water was poured into the room and the prisoner electrocuted.
Other rooms had hooks hanging from the ceiling, while another 1.2 meter by 2.4 meter (4 foot by 8 foot) cell was equipped with just a pillow and mattress.
The reporter said he interviewed one man, who did not want to be identified, who said prisoners were blindfolded, tied up, hung on the hooks and then beaten.
The man also said a citizen who committed a crime could avoid being tortured by putting up cash -- about $1,600 for stealing, and almost twice that for murder, according to the BBC reporter.
