{"article":{"id":132729,"heading":"Fatima, the Virgin of Abu Ghraib","author":"Kim Alphandary","created":"2005-07-16 09:09:46","modified":"2005-08-15 00:14:29","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:14:29","article":"

Title: Fatima, the Virgin of Abu Ghraib

Artist: Kim Alphandary

Materials: Oil Painting

Dimensions: 44'' by 44''

This painting is dedicated to Fatima, an Iraqi woman who was held in Abu Ghraib Prison*.

Fatima was arrested sometime in 2004 and managed to smuggle a letter out to her family. Here is an excerpt from her heart-wrenching letter:

\"... I am your sister in God (Fatima). They raped me on one day more than nine times. Can you comprehend? Imagine one of your sisters being raped. Why can't you all imagine it, as I am your sister. With me are 13 girls, all unmarried. All have been raped before the eyes and ears of everyone... Brothers, I tell you again, fear God! Kill us with them so that we might be at peace. Help! Help! Help!\"

Fatima's elder brother organized a hundred men and launched an attack on the prison; Fatima was struck fatally in the head during the bombardment and died on December 21, 2004.

The case of Fatima is not unique; many Iraqi women have sent messages begging loved ones to 'please kill us all.' U.S. guards are perpetrating systemic abuse and torture against Iraqi women who are held in indefinite detention without charge; this is happening not just at Abu Ghraib but all across Iraq.

In my opinion, the rape of Fatima was one universal rape of all women of this world that cuts across all races, colors, ideologies and creeds.

Join me in this one simple demand to the U.S. Senate and Congress:

Release the hundreds of photographs and videotapes from Abu Ghraib that have been shown to members of the Senate but remain classified. Let the American people see and hear men being tortured, children being sodomized and women being raped by their US guards and interrogators, and then decide for themselves whether these methods are consistent with a democracy.



* Abu Ghraib prison is located in Iraq and came to the notice of the world when the New Yorker article by Seymour M. Hersh of April 30, 2004 publicized several graphic photos of prisoner abuse by personnel of the U.S. armed forces, CIA officers and contractors involved in the occupation of Iraq. <\/p>\n","contact":"jakway@riseup.net","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"I've just finished a painting with accompanying article about a story that is one of the most powerful modern myths to emerge out of the war in Iraq. ","numcomment":7,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2005\/07\/dibujo_small.jpeg","filesize":"81.9 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2005\/07\/132729.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2005\/07\/dibujo_small.jpeg"}},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":132731,"heading":"I have actual photographs","article":"Of Iraqi women being gang raped and sexually abused by U.S. soldiers","author":"Hex","parent_id":132729,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2005-07-16 09:37:15","modified":"2006-07-11 14:26:05","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2005\/07\/us_soldiers_gang_rape.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2005\/07\/us_soldiers_gang_rape.jpg"}},{"id":132733,"heading":"Russian Porn Photos","article":"These photos were first made known to the activist community shortly after the Abu Ghraib scandel in 2004, posted to http:\/\/www.albasrah.net\/ and a Tunisian website produced in France by Committee for the Defense of Saddam Hussein. They came from a Russian Porn Site, a facination that developed out of their 30 year war in Afghanistan.\r\n\r\nAl Basrah is a good site, but they do not always verify their materials. ","author":"Kim Alphandary","parent_id":132729,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-16 09:59:09","modified":"2005-07-16 09:59:09","fileurl":""},{"id":132742,"heading":"Zero credibility","article":"Hex...you've dropped to a new low.\r\n\r\nYou had to known that these pics were from a porn site. Not only is it simply obvious on the face of it, but they've been posted ad nauseum on pretty much every IMC and blog and the links to the porn site were well identified.\r\n\r\nWhat as ass.","author":"fresca","parent_id":132729,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-16 13:01:19","modified":"2005-07-16 13:01:19","fileurl":""},{"id":132761,"heading":"note.","article":" I don't hate shit, if it's on the floor, I dispose of it, using disinfectant. \r\nDisgust is not hate. ","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":132729,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-16 14:30:28","modified":"2005-07-16 14:30:28","fileurl":""},{"id":132762,"heading":"me either","article":"I have a perfect score - every answer is no or Not Applicable\r\n\r\nFresca insists we must hate too because that's all she knows how to deal with - I pointed out to her last night sex and love are totally foreign to her as there's no element of hate in them - at least for normal people\r\n\r\n\r\non the test Fresca appears to be a psycho - answering yes to at least half the questions\r\n\r\nthat's why she refuses to - it shows just how messed up she it\r\n\r\nsince hate is a substitute for sex with Fresca the question naturally begs whether she's a necro..\r\n\r\n\r\n","author":"Hex","parent_id":132729,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-16 14:55:40","modified":"2005-07-16 14:55:40","fileurl":""},{"id":133220,"heading":"Thank you so much","article":"Thank you so much, Kim, for posting this moving and very well done work.\r\n\r\nMil Gracias","author":"grateful","parent_id":132729,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-20 16:42:10","modified":"2005-07-20 16:42:10","fileurl":""}]}