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JIHAD SLEIMAN'S
DEPOSITION
My
name is Jihaad Sleimaan. I was in charge of the Security of Dr. Samir
Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces. I would like to speak about
the conditions of my incarceration in the Ministry of Defense in
Lebanon.
On
the 28th of March 1994, we were besieged in Ghodras (the headquarters
of the L.F.). Whilst I was leaving the area, I was arrested by the
Lebanese Army. They gave my name on the wireless then a group arrived,
took hold of me and covered my head with my jacket. I was thrown
inside the Jeep and taken to the Ministry of Defense. There was no
arrest warrant issued. On the way I was beaten up violently and my
covered head was being kicked repeatedly by the soldiers. When we
arrived to destination a soldier took hold of me whilst being
blindfolded and ordered me to run rapidly with him whilst guiding me.
I smashed head on onto a wall and collapsed onto the ground in the
midst of laughter from soldiers who did not know my name. I was beaten
with the base of rifles until blood came out of my hand. Four to five
hours later and whilst I was standing blindfolded, I was summoned for
interrogation. After I have been relieved from the blindfold I saw an
officer who told me: " You're now in the Intelligence Section of the
Ministry of Defense, we do not want anything from you but you need to
answer every question we ask, It is the only way you will enter decent
and respected and you'll walk out clean and whole. Do not give us any
reason to show you the other alternative..."They called onto a jailer
(and here I would like to mention, after 90 days experience, that
every jailer was nick-named ATTIEH). They shouted " Attieh Blindfold
him, take him to the bathroom, give him a pad of about one thousand
paper and tell him what to do". The jailer took me and threw me onto
the floor of a bathroom, he handed me the pad and told me:" You've got
to fill up all these papers and you've got to tell us all the sh… you’
ve done, all the atrocities that you've perpetuated in your life, all
those you've assassinated, all the drugs that you've taken, the
thefts, the women you raped, everything that your master Samir Geagea
delegated you to perform: the killings, the bombings, the
assassinations, etc.. and if you do not write, poor thing, you'll
never know what will happen to you " . I took the pad and started
detailing the period of my life with the Lebanese Forces starting from
1980 until the present date .I filled about 20 pages and handed them
to the interrogator. About One minute passed before he shouted at me "
what is this? Are you laughing at us? Don't you know that we are aware
of all this? We want the atrocities that you've perpetuated, we want
everything that your master Samir Geagea ordered you to execute: the
people that you killed; tell us how you bombed the church , how you
killed president René Moawwad, Dany Chamoun, how you assassinated
Rachid Karameh, you have to tell us all that in details , I am going
to give you one more chance ; go and write again."
I took the pad again
wondering what else to write especially when I was certain that we had
absolutely nothing to do with all these crimes ...so I started
thinking : I already told everything on the Lebanese Forces and on my
role within it , about how the Lebanese Forces changed from a militia
into an institution , about the rehabilitation programs , about the
political school , about the military college and the graduation of
Officers ,about the social and charitable programs like the public
transport , the twinning program , the medical and educational
subsidies , I even told them about our structure and the who is who in
our hierarchy , I detailed my training , the battles I fought, the
duties I assumed in the Military Police and all the details of the
period in Ghodras , the Guards stations , the different offices , even
the details of Dr. Geagea's home .
I felt I had nothing
more to say ; I knew that the Lebanese Forces had nothing to do with
all the killings, the bombings and the atrocities mentioned . I felt
that a big scenario is being prepared and that they need to use me in
order to arrest Dr. Geagea . I handed him the pad back . He said "
Atieh , it seems that this animal is not understanding us . In any
case he will be made to understand. Does he think himself more
important than Fuad Malek ?" ; and here the long road of Calvary
started .
Atieh took me and the
torture began. I do not know where to start from ... The first thing I
remember was being tied unto a chair with my feet caught between the
seat and the back and being hit on the sole of my feet with an
electric wire until my feet were bleeding profusely . He then untied
me and threw me into a cell and told me " I am giving you 10 minutes ,
think hard and tell us what you've been asked to execute recently by
Dr. Samir Geagea. If we do not get what we want after those 10
minutes, you'll experience something you don't like".
The 10 minutes passed
and I gave the same answer as before :" I was not asked to execute any
mission that involved any illegal attack on security or order." The
jailer took me and hanged me on the Ballanco ( later in the conference
our friend Fadi will explain to you the details of the Ballanco ). It
is indeed the most difficult tool of torture that I suffered and I
suppose this is true also for all my friends who were detained in the
Ministry. The interrogator told me :" you will not come down of there
until you start speaking ." Here I would like to stress that those
interrogators arrest people and accuse them of all imaginable crimes
;Their end target was to formulate a scenario and extort all its
predetermined elements through degrees of torture little by little
until the victim learns the lesson and follows neatly their
plan...They started increasing the dose of torture and used a variety
of methods . More than once they told me : " Speak and have pity on
yourself because you have one of two alternatives : either ending up
in the Lunatic asylum like Georges Alam or becoming paralysed and your
relatives will visit you in the disabled centre of Beit Chabab " .
I first thought that
these threats were exaggerated but slowly the Calvary became more and
more heavy . After the beatings I progressed unto the "Balanco" from
there a new method called the " Magic Carpet " ( Fadi will tell you
more about it ) was used at the end of which I was thrown into a cell
with bilateral sprained and greatly swollen ankles . A person entered
the cell and asked me if I was ill ." Do you need a doctor ? Do you
lack anything ? " I answered "my legs are hurting " he asked me why ?
, I did not dare and tell him that the reason was torture . I answered
" because of a missed step " he replied " a missed step or the
beatings on the soles?" I said " the torture Sir " he replied " it
seems that you are not accustomed to tell the truth " he started
shouting at me " if you do not tell them what they want , you are to
suffer even more " he left and I knew that this was the Medical doctor
! . The interrogator returned and told me " I will try and speak to
you once more . We possess reliable information that you and few
others from Ghodras know in details everything about Dr. Geagea . You
have to tell us everything ". I replied " I said everything I knew
already " .He called unto Attieh and ordered him to do a good job .
Attieh knows very well that in order to please his master he will
induce the most suffering imaginable . He asks me to undress
completely and wash and then orders me to bend forward in order to
introduce a bottle in my back passage . I started begging him and
implored him not to ; another one arrived and started whipping me ; a
third one started punching me . They brought the bottle and put it
underneath me and ordered me to sit on it . I started shouting ; here
an interrogator came I begged him to give me time to speak . He took
me and said " Son ,we do not want anything from you personally , you
are very small fish . We want the head of your leader ;we want to
crush him . Nobody is allowed to stand in our way . You will tell us
how you bombed the Church " I answered " But Sir , I know absolutely
nothing on the whole question of the Church . I never took part or
Knew of anything that related to it or other illegal activities " He
said " I am trying to help you . why suffer all this torture because
they are determined and they know that you took part in the bombing .
Tell us or else it will be very difficult on you " . I reiterated my
innocence and the certainty that we had nothing to do with this . I
detailed the meetings of Dr. Geagea in support of our innocence. He
replied " In this case I wash my hands from you and let " the butcher
" take over ".
The butcher is an
interrogator . Others were nicknamed Hitler , Romel etc... The butcher
ordered to hang me onto the "Ballanco" once more . The Calvary started
again .He left me hanging for about half an hour during which I was
crying and shouting in pain. He came back and said " You have bombed
the church isn't it ?" I told him " As you wish Sir, anything you say
Sir " . and thus in a moment of weakness and pain I crumbled and
accepted to say what they want me to say in order to avoid any further
suffering . I felt that whatever I am obliged to do now I would refute
later on in Court . From there on I agreed to everything : that I
killed president Moawwad,( they were insisting at first to accuse me
and the Lebanese forces then they dropped this accusation ? ) ; that
we killed Mr. Karami (the prime Minister) ;They tortured me very much
to confess that I killed Monsignor Khoreish only to realise later
after my release that I was in Germany at the time of the killing
.They accused me of killing Mr. Dany Chamoun . During all this time I
was hearing the same methods of interrogation and the same questions
being asked to other friends of mine who were responding that they
knew absolutely nothing about it .
Returning to the
Church bombing , and after collapsing into submission he was asking me
" you brought the time fuses didn't you ? " I answered " yes sir " He
said " to whom did you give them " I answered " I brought the time
fuses and gave them to Joseph Rizk " Here the interrogator was
seemingly satisfied that I was beginning to understand them so they
started to increase the level of torture and intimidation he said "
Son this does not fit in well . It is not Joseph Rizk that took the
time fuses it was Dr. Geagea wasn't it ? " I answered " Yes Samir
Geagea Sir . I brought the time fuses and gave them to Samir Geagea ."
He replied " Samir Geagea is not going to keep the time fuses in his
office is he? he told you to give them to an engineering officer isn't
it animal ?
I felt that
everything was being drawn according to a predetermined scenario at
the end of which anybody will deduce that Dr. Geagea was behind the
bombing of the Church. From there on I remember well that between each
and every word I was being subjected to electrical shocks , I still
carry on my body the evidence of all this.
I was always hoping
to renounce all these fabricated confessions in front of the Judge of
Interrogation or the Court within a fair system of Justice. So when
they were threatening me about referral to the Judge I hoped ,deep
into my heart , to be able to escape from the hell I was living into
and tell the whole truth . I was looking forward to be moved to a
civil jail and then I will be able to consult with a lawyer . I should
also stress that until this time I was prevented from receiving any
visitor , family or lawyer.
On one occasion I
gathered all my strength again , and whilst praying I decided to fight
back. I waited to be seen by the Judge again and told him "all my
depositions were made under duress. If you want the truth I do not
have anything to do with all these bombings , assassinations or
anything else". After this they took me again through the road to
Calvary with more and more sophisticated torture. During all the
period from 28/03/94 till 16/04/1994 I was kept standing, deprived of
food , water and sleep for a span of three to four days at a time. I
was naked ,blindfolded, my hands were tied behind my back whilst I was
facing the wall with my legs widely spread apart. They used to walk on
my toes ,electrocute me at will and at times when I could take no more
I used to collapse on the floor . I also experienced a weird feeling
of detachment from my environment called in medical terms a Trance or
Fugue. I imagined myself back in Ghodres assuming my usual
responsibilities. They used here to hit me and kick me on the head
.They used to come and wake me up with electric shocks. I know during
one of those times I collapsed and was wounded on my head. It was a
big ,deep wound ; they carried me , threw me back into my cell and
left me to sleep for a long time. They woke me up and asked me to get
dressed and try to make myself look smart. I thought my parents or
somebody else was coming to see me at last. They took me to a room and
removed my blindfold. I saw in front of me a man dressed in civil
clothes. I knew him straight away he was the interrogation judge
Joseph Freiha. I had seen him on TV, before my arrest, making
declarations and accusing the Lebanese forces of the church bombing.
He said to me: "Stand up and put your hands behind your back, son." I
blessed myself and did as he asked. He looked at me and started
shaking his head saying" If you see me in civil clothes , do not think
you can take any advantage." "No Sir. , But this is a new and
different environment . It is only for this reason that I blessed
myself " I replied . Then he started the interrogation, I quickly
realised that nothing had changed. From the room of Judge Freiha you
could still hear the screaming and crying from the other rooms, as
before, it was so loud on one occasion that the Judge had to ask the
soldiers in the room to go and calm it down so that we could hear each
other. Despite all this, I was still hoping the judge was going to
move me into a civil jail and allow me to appoint a lawyer for myself
or release me because I was innocent. I was grabbing at straws. All of
a sudden, after a silence, the screaming recommenced from the next
room. I recognised the voice of my friend Fawzi Al Rassi. I could hear
Fawzi saying " I had nothing to do with the story of Dany Chamoun, I
know nothing about it ". I heard another voice ordering: " Attieh,
hang him on the Ballanco , I heard a noise which sounded like they
were hanging someone on the Balanco. I could hear from the screams
that they were electrocuting him ; I heard another one say " Get the
acid, and dip his feet in little by little". I could hear Fawzi
screaming in terror, "NO, NO," then suddenly his voice stopped . I
heard lots of movements but I never heard his voice again. I didn't
know then what happened but I found out after I have been released
that he died on that day at their hands ... When the judge had
finished with me, they took me to the corridor and made me stand
facing the wall . Someone gave me a sandwich ; a man called "The big
Master" the head of the Intelligence unit ,the officer Jamil Sayed
passed and saw me eating. ( They used to call me Abou Hamam-The father
of pigeons ). He said " who allowed him to eat or sleep before he
tells the truth". I told him " Sir I just told the judge all what I
know" he replied " What truth is that. The judge himself asked us to
punish you. Now you will not sleep or eat...." One of the guards
grabbed the sandwich from my hand and I know that for more than three
days they kept me standing with my legs spread open without food or
drink until I collapsed unconscious on the floor .
Because of the lack
of food and sleep and because of the torture they realised I was
beginning to break down. They devised a new method of torture whereby
they made me stand, arms and feet apart, and scream " The Pigeons are
Flying " and lower my arms screaming " The Pigeons are landing" thus
the naming of Abou Hamam . This was repeated endlessly for days and
nights . I lost my sense of time . Because I was dehydrated, my mouth
was so dry at times that I could not speak, they responded by giving
me electric shocks or punching or lashing me with the whip. They used
to gather , seven or eight of them , to watch the show. The name Abou
Hamam was given to me for seventy days at least in the Ministry of
Defense. They treated me like a clown. When they began to allow me to
sleep, one of them used to wake me up and told me I had an
interrogation. He would blindfold me, cuff me and say to me " Fly fly
bird..." They used to make me sing. I used to hear the " big master"
and all his subjects laughing.
Because I was an
officer in the headquarters of the Lebanese Forces, I knew most of the
people that were arrested in this section i.e. around 70/80. Every
time there was a new prisoner they would make me go into a room with
them and say whatever they told me. They would ask me questions and
make me repeat pre-prepared answers to demoralize the new prisoners.
They would make me say that their wives or mothers were having affairs
with X,Y,Z. They would ask the new prisoner " Do you know Jihad
Sleiman, he would reply " Yes he's an officer in Ghodras" (
Headquarters of the Lebanese Forces). They would say "look what has
happened to him. If you don't tell us what we want ( meaning their
prepared statement) the same thing will happen to you " . The
interrogator would then scream " Bring Abou Hamam". When the boys saw
me they were afraid and demoralised and would begin telling stories
thinking it would save them from the same torture. They would call me
three or four times a day to play this game . I know this is what
happened to the prisoners: Rafiq Saade ,Kamil Karam , Girges El Khoury
, Hanna Attiq and many others .
What I want to say
now is very important . They were pushing me to admit my involvement
in the bombing of the church and the assassination of Dany Chamoun and
his family telling me I would be released if I said that. Because,
according to them, I was very small fish and they didn't want me, they
wanted (the head) my boss. I denied my involvement .one of the
soldiers said " Sir , its ok ,The animal in the other room just
admitted his involvement in Chamoun's case." The investigator would
turn to me and say " Admit you've done the church and let's finish.
Then you can go home. We know you're just a soldier following orders.
We will bring your boss to the prison."
It was one month
before I was allowed to see a lawyer and instruct him to defend me.
Even then they did not allow him to talk to me .They asked him to
obtain a permission from the interrogation judge before he saw me
again. After a few days my interrogator said to me " Abou Hamam, they
are saying outside you are either dead or crazy and now they are
sending one of your religious people in black, you call him what, a
priest or a bishop?? to ask about you. Now you are going to meet him.
You will tell him everything is OK. and there is no torture whatsoever
. If you don't we will kill you when he has gone. You tell him you're
here for questioning because the party you belong to is involved in
serious allegations " . They took me up I saw the Bishop, Bechara Al-Rahi,
sitting between the two judges, Freiha and Hounein, and a few other
people. The judges were telling him " Don't worry Father we're the
protectors of the Christians and the boys are OK in here. I had to
tell the Bishop that everything was OK. The Bishop told me he was
going to tell this to the press. When we had finished they sent for
me. The interrogator said" Good you've done well. Not like this animal
Hanna Atiq who said things he shouldn't have. It comes to my mind now
that my old friend Hanna Attiq ended up a few days later in hospital
in a coma for 10 days.
After that event they
were easier with me, but I could always hear my friends screaming " I
don't know", this is the truth" or " Mother Mary, Jesus please save
us." I could hear the interrogator saying to them " Forget it, neither
Jesus nor Mary are going to help you here. Screaming won't help. Here
you have to say "Yes Sir", and tell us about the involvement of Samir
Geagea ".
Every time I heard
the screams I couldn't eat or sleep. I stayed there for 90 days hoping
that they would move me to a civil prison. Every time I heard someone
scream when he was on the Ballanco or being electrocuted or I heard
the squeak of a door I would feel a terrible pain in my stomach, I
would shiver. I felt at the edge of utter despair trying to shut out
the sounds of the screams. Even so I could hear every one of them,
every electric shock.
I will describe this
prison for you. There is a long corridor with 16 rooms full of
prisoners. In the corridor were 50 prisoners cuffed , blindfolded and
lying on the floor. Everyone could hear all the interrogations, the
torture, and the screams.
Finally it is really
terrible that they are continuing with court cases built on statements
signed by us under duress.
After torture we were
forced to sign these statement, blindfolded, by a man called al
Mukhtar (the mayor). The same man used to stand under the Ballanco
with a piece of paper ; he would say " sign this paper and go home or
stay on the Balenko " The same man used to hand those papers to the
judge of interrogation . He belongs also to the Intelligence services
.The interrogators were on very good terms with Judges and I know the
judges were fully aware of the methods of interrogation used to obtain
"depositions". At the end I saw the faces of my interrogators and I
recognised them as the same men present in the office of Judge Freiha
during my first appearance there .
I feel terribly
bitter at being tortured for 90 days in the Ministry of Defense,
accused of bombing a Church I had defended with everything I have for
15 years ,only to find that they wanted to put Dr. Geagea in Jail . I
would like to challenge the Lebanese Government , through the Media
present today , that with adequate guarantees I am prepared to face
and challenge every person who was mentioned in this press conference
with all the facts that were detailed and bear witness to the truth.
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