Thamer Ilias Hussein

Thamer Elias Hussein is married and has four children. After ISIS took control of Mosul in 2014, he was arrested along with his family and relatives from eastern Nineveh on the charge of being Shia (or “renegades,” as ISIS called them).

Thamer speaks of the bitter pain of seeing his frail 75-year-old mother being led into detention. The arrested men and women were segregated, then taken in buses to the Ahdath Prison.

He describes his shock upon arrival at the prison because of the huge number of people detained in a facility he did not know existed. Thamer says he felt he was suffocating. He wished to be dead rather than stay in prison without knowing the fate of his wife, mother, and children. He explains that his isolation and despair only increased as other prisoners avoided him and his relatives because the charge of being “renegades” (Shia) was very dangerous.

He recalls crying in anguish when he thought about his mother and family. At the time, he did not know what had happened to them or where they had been taken. As a result of his fear and anguish, he stopped eating and lay down, wishing to die.

He spent most of his time in the cell sleeping and praying. He says the cell was filthy and full of the unpleasant odors emanating from the washrooms. He felt that the group cell was completely isolated from the outside world. The isolation was only interrupted when the door was opened to admit new prisoners. Thamer did not see the faces of ISIS members because he was blindfolded when he was led around the prison.

He says that he lost his appetite and ate very little. The meager meals were made of cheese, with bread and tea in the morning and rice with broth in the evening.

Thamer says that there was no health care in the prison. Prisoners suffered from lice, scabies, and sometimes serious health problems.

He explains that the group cell was dirty and could not be cleaned because it was overcrowded with more than 60 detainees, and the bathrooms and sinks were part of the cell. Moreover, there was no soap or cleaning products. The only thing available was water. He does not recall seeing the bathrooms clogged or broken, even though there were long lines to use them, especially before prayers. He says he did not shower during the week he spent in the prison, which he likens to a “livestock barn.”

Thamer explains that he was nervous during his interrogation because he knew that what he said would affect his fate. ISIS did not find proof at his house that he was Shia. He thinks that during the interrogation he successfully leveraged his religious knowledge to convince the interrogator that he was not Shia. Consequently, the charges against him were dropped. He expresses his gratitude to the people of his neighborhood who defended him when ISIS members came to ask about him and his family. One person who defended the family was a mosque imam who denied that Thamer’s family was Shia in order to protect them.

Thamer says he was not tortured, and thinks this is because torture was only used against people on minor charges. He says ISIS did not bother to torture those on serious charges, instead taking them directly to execution. He believes that no one returned to prison after being taken to trial.

After his interrogation and the testimonies of the imam and other neighbors, Thamer and his family were released. However, they were placed under house arrest until the investigation was concluded.

Thamer explains how the prisoners were blindfolded and taken to buses. After hearing the voices of women and children in nearby buses, he refused to leave the bus or to return home without his family. As a result, ISIS were obliged to take him back to prison until they brought the women of his family. When the family did eventually return home, they discovered that ISIS had stolen everything in the house.

Finally, Thamer describes the dangerous journey he and his family took to flee from Mosul to Karbala. He used his mother’s medical reports as a pretext to convince ISIS that he was taking her to a hospital in Baghdad. On top of the grave risk of arrest by ISIS, the family faced immense danger on the road as airstrikes hit ISIS checkpoints nearby. Eventually, they reached their destination safely.

Thamer regards his detention as the most challenging time in his life. He is convinced that he will never forget the image of his children, nieces, and nephews hiding under the table after they had learned that ISIS members were approaching the house. He says that his 14-year-old son, who was five when he was arrested, suffers from tremors. He believes that the tremors are likely due to the trauma of Thamer’s arrest, which his son witnessed.