Life under Saddam Hussein in Iraq was full of immense terror, fear, and distrust. Political dissenters of the regime were forced into detention centers, facing some of the most inhumane treatment, while leaving their families in fear and question. First, Iraqi families of political dissenters in detention centers, such as the family of Amer, were left in fearful wondering on the condition of their loved one. Families were not given any news or updates on their loved one in prison, nor were they allowed to visit their loved one. Some families paid prison guards at the Alamin detention center in hopes of getting any news on their loved one; sometimes this worked, while other times the efforts were fruitless. Furthermore, Iraqi people did not
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Guards emotionally destroyed prisoners by telling them they were going to be released, thus giving them a sense of hope at escaping the horrors of the detention center, with no intention of releasing them, in many cases. For this reason, Amer was in disbelief when the guards told him they were going to release him and then actually did, as he knew the mind games they played. Prisoners also faced emotional torture through hearing the “screaming and pleading of a woman being gang-raped” or “the frightening sounds of dogs and coyotes barking and attacking someone” (265). Amer and others were never sure if the experiences were truly happening or were only recordings, but none-the-less, the emotional torture aroused by this experience produced the regime’s desired effect of terror among the detainees. Many feared this happening to themselves, as well as felt the empathetic response towards the person who may or may not have been experiencing those life-scarring forms of torture. Also, when Amer was finally released he feared that it was all a muse and guards were following him, giving him the chance to “look at normal things and breath clean air again,” just before arresting him and taking him back to the detention center (266). On top of this fear, Amer was forced to sign a contract that stated that if he ever engaged in “anti-government activity again, he would be executed” (265). When he finally returned home, his family couldn’t have the large celebration they desired, due to fear of his recapture or their own, along with the fact that many of Amer’s friends and other detainees were not as lucky as he
Guards emotionally destroyed prisoners by telling them they were going to be released, thus giving them a sense of hope at escaping the horrors of the detention center, with no intention of releasing them, in many cases. For this reason, Amer was in disbelief when the guards told him they were going to release him and then actually did, as he knew the mind games they played. Prisoners also faced emotional torture through hearing the “screaming and pleading of a woman being gang-raped” or “the frightening sounds of dogs and coyotes barking and attacking someone” (265). Amer and others were never sure if the experiences were truly happening or were only recordings, but none-the-less, the emotional torture aroused by this experience produced the regime’s desired effect of terror among the detainees. Many feared this happening to themselves, as well as felt the empathetic response towards the person who may or may not have been experiencing those life-scarring forms of torture. Also, when Amer was finally released he feared that it was all a muse and guards were following him, giving him the chance to “look at normal things and breath clean air again,” just before arresting him and taking him back to the detention center (266). On top of this fear, Amer was forced to sign a contract that stated that if he ever engaged in “anti-government activity again, he would be executed” (265). When he finally returned home, his family couldn’t have the large celebration they desired, due to fear of his recapture or their own, along with the fact that many of Amer’s friends and other detainees were not as lucky as he