Henry Campofreda
Earth, September 30, 2009
Leaving the red cube a box of high iron not more than fifty centimeters deep, and even less where he was crouched down, often naked, his hands tied behind his back and ears hammering the young Israeli soldier on guard was the order of the rate for hours, minute by minute - the head held up the "terrorist" could look at the horizon, toward the Palestine subjugated. It is the prison of El Khiam, southern Lebanon that the liberation in May 2000, a sign warns open. Open to visitors, although during the 34-day war of 2006 the Israeli air force, bombing the place, he tried to erase all trace of her shame.
El Khiam was born when, in March 1978 during the first attempt of annexation of the State of Lebanon, Israeli forces penetrated dozens of miles in the southern territory well beyond the Litani River. Elsa was the support of the troops, the army commanded by Major Haddad local collaborationist, guilty of 82 have joined the Falange in the massacres of Sabra and Shatila. In successive stages of the conflict in the early eighties El Khiam was established a place of detention and torture, where they spent thousands of Palestinian resistance, simple and Lebanese civilians. The torture of the cube was one of the least bloody. There was one pole of which were hung upside down prisoners, naked both in summer and winter, to be kicked or beaten by soldiers while the body swayed. There were the inevitable barrel, the needles, jets of hot water or cold, the wounds covered with salt and lemon, inhibition of sleep.
An Abu Ghraib before its time, even if torture is an old, old paraphernalia of any rogue state. Tell a Hezbollah militant, held here for four years, which now acts as a guide in place "has come, the chance to see the tower where prisoners were hung upside down with his eyes blindfolded, but we can only tell of bodies which were inflicted on the wet or those threatened with electric shocks, almost a touch of bite left the ring dogs. The psychological pressure was not less than: Israelis brought here our women taken from the villages, we stripped the front ec'intimavano to report where they were hiding our comrades in arms if we did not want to see them raped. Unfortunately there were also rapes in this cursed place. "
Until 2000, there are five thousand prisoners in the past four hundred women, with a continuous presence of one hundred fifty people. "In the days of liberation were 144. There was no distinction between adults and children, shared a cell with a thirteen year old boy, an old man of 77 years and his wife of 74, imprisoned solely for the suspect could be hiding around the house some of the resistance. The Israelis offered money to those who betrayed them and supported, more or less than $ 5,000, and found naturally in most occasion someone willing to help. These people have enjoyed after the liberation of the amnesty that was granted, but we ex-prisoners have not tried any desire for vengeance. The International Red Cross was able to enter for the first time in 1995 in El Khiam, trying to make improvements structures, for he was well aware of the harsh conditions of prisoners. Who was within these walls was considered a dispersed, with little chance to get out alive. "
end to the occupation of Israeli armed forces and the dissolution of the puppet army Haddad (84 led by General Lahad, and although also recruit among the local Shiites, would not stay one day in life without the support of 'Israel), this prison, by the will of Hezbollah, has become a destination for tourism and political memory. The Party of God has appointed a group of former prisoners deal with it.
They organized a committee, set up a guided tour that explains to visitors the brutality in this place for almost two decades. It is, in most cases, students and foreigners interested in the historical and social aspects of the country. The partial destruction of Israel three years ago has redefined the initial project but did not reconsider its purpose. Which provides a partial reconstruction of some damaged cells, while keeping intact the rubble covering several blocks of the bombed. Have already been set up skirts and small rooms with photos and artifacts that illustrate the crucial role played by the resistance, workhorse of Nasrallah's party for a new Lebanon free from occupation.
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