Nashwan Muhammad Kamil

Nashwan Muhammad Kamil, a worker in the dyeing industry, was implicated by his friend Safwan, who had been arrested by ISIS. Safwan gave the jailers Nashwan’s name as well as that of another man named Younis. As a result, ISIS arrested Nashwan and Younis on the charges of theft and fighting against ISIS. Nashwan was acquitted after being interrogated, having successfully proven his innocence.

However, when Safwan was transferred to another security base, he implicated Nashwan again. This time, ISIS summoned Nashwan to the security base in the Falah neighborhood. Nashwan recalls being handcuffed and blindfolded by the jailers, who immediately began beating him and torturing him with electric shocks. They demanded the password to his phone so that they could check it, but they couldn’t find anything relevant there. They then returned to questioning him about his relationship with Safwan. Nashwan describes the torment he suffered at that security base: the beatings, the electric shocks, and being suspended from the ceiling. He lost consciousness twice due to the severity of the torture. After each session, he was returned to the same cell in which Younis was also imprisoned. Younis was executed later, along with several others.

When Nashwan was later transferred to the Ahdath Prison, he underwent the same interrogation process four times, and was asked the same questions. Each time, he was returned unconscious to the cell, wrapped in a blanket. Jailers were trying to force him to confess to crimes he had not committed.

He recalls hearing the cries of detainees being tortured whenever he passed between the investigation room and the group cell. He then lists the methods of torture he endured while in the Ahdath Prison: brutal beatings, electric shocks, suspension from the ceiling, and having his hands pulled behind his back with a stick, causing pain so severe that he lost consciousness. He asserts that those sessions were filmed. Regarding psychological torture, Nashwan says that the jailers terrified him with the idea of execution. He adds that all the jailers were Arabs from different parts of Iraq. When the interrogation sessions had finished, the jailers asked him to join ISIS. He refused.

Nashwan then talks about the prison environment. He mentions that the group cell housed around 250 prisoners of different ages and backgrounds: Sunnis and Shiites, civilians and military officers, in addition to members of rival militias like the Naqshbandi Army and the Islamic Army in Iraq. There were also lawyers and UN personnel, nearly all of whom were executed; an ISIS squad would come at night and drag them outside to be killed and dumped in the mass grave known as Khasfa.

The witness then moves on to describe daily life in prison. The prisoners lived in constant fear of execution, spending their time reciting the Quran, worshiping, and praying to God for deliverance from their ordeal. Despite suspecting that informants were planted among them, many inmates became friends. Sadly, a lot of Nashwan’s new prison friends were ultimately executed.

Nashwan says they received three meals a day. He also describes the long queues to use the bathrooms, especially at prayer times. He confirms that water and cleaning products like soap and sanitizers were available, allowing the prisoners to wash regularly, though not daily. Despite this, the bathrooms and toilets constantly reeked.

Finally, Nashwan details the incidents that led to his release. One day at dawn, the prison was targeted by an airstrike, killing everyone in his group cell except for him and a few fellow inmates, who managed to escape through a hole. They were then transferred to the Dar al-Diyafa Prison, and subsequently to the Qaimaqamiyaiya Prison. There, they appeared before the judge for the last time before being released.

Nashwan concludes with the sad story of his father’s death from a heart attack, triggered by the belief that Nashwan had been executed or killed in the airstrike. He describes how he felt upon release; how he hated life and initially attempted to work secretly against ISIS but soon gave up, afraid that he would be exposed and caught. He now accepts his life conditions, dedicating himself to working for the sake of his family. Despite his hardships, he praises God for keeping him alive.