Prevention of Religious Observances

Among the various methods of humiliation and psychological torture inflicted upon prisoners of war (POWs) during captivity, one of the harshest was the prevention of collective religious ceremonies.

In the detention camps, all group activities were forbidden without the permission of the Iraqi guards, religious observances included. And despite the absence of any explicit ban on religious practices, any prisoner who insisted on performing communal rites, such as congregational prayer, would, if spotted by Iraqi guards, subject those taking part to severe punishment.

That said, the Iraqis did not interfere with individual prayer or fasting; their crackdown was aimed chiefly at collective worship.

See also

• Punishment and Torture
• Psychological Punishment and Torture
• Punishment in Captivity
• Torture in Captivity

Author

Morad Shafiee