APRIL 29, 2014
Forever A Victim
Amnesty International Article
by Isabela Bertolini
It’s 3 am. I was thrown out of my rotting and
crumbling “punishment cell”. For three days, I didn’t move a
muscle because there’s no space to move. No food to eat but
sand. The first day, I was stripped down and blindfolded. I was
thrusted to the ground, where an officer jabbed his knee into
my back while two other rushed to tie my hands and feet. They
were so tight that both feet were touching my head. It didn’t
end there though. Night after night, we were taken out into a
field where I was forced to lay down and have water poured in
my face. Then pushed on my chest with their boots to see the
water come back out through my mouth and nostrils. Every
possible horrendous thing imaginable was done- including
being burned and beat with electric cables. I am just a 16 year
old Malian refugee who was been held without trial since being
arrested on terrorism-related charges. and I am being held In
the central prison of Nouakchott in the capital of Mauritania.
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“Torture is NOT the
type of behavior we
expect from civilized,
law abiding nations.”
“Justice for ALL”
!
After 3 nights of being held in the prison 16 year old Hassan
Ibrahim died, without a trial, only by suspicion. The young
boy isn’t the only innocent victim of our inhumanity. Many
men are beaten to death. Women and children are raped and
tortured. After this they are taken to short and summary trials
where confessions are used as the only evidence. For this 16
year old boy- this suspicion lead to his unfortunate death. Is
this cruel unhmane treatment really necessary for innocent
people?
!
Over 112 countries tortured their citizens in 2012, How is
beating human beings, stripping them naked and dangling
them from trees “enhanced interrogation techniques? How is
this even human?
!
Torture is wrong and violates the Spirit of the International
Law. There is an even bigger danger in eliminating the ban on
torture as a method of investigation. Nowadays, 112 countries
violate this principle already. If torture will be legitimized,
then its day to day use would be increased. Is that really the
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“Torture is NOT the type of
behavior we expect from
civilized, law abiding nations.
An example can be taken
from the victims in
Mauritania. Abuses in
Mauritania must come to an
end. Authorities must
investigate all reports of
torture and abuse and
implement the
recommendations recently
presented by the UN
Committee against Torture.”
-Isabela B.
!2