CAIRO: “I was taken out of the van and put in a place where I heard motors. I soon realized that I was on an airplane. I heard a lot of footsteps . it was cold. They put plastic shackles on my hands and feet, he says.
Abu Omar continues saying that he was severely beaten and sexually harassed with an unknown object while classical music was blasted in the background.
All of a sudden, ten masked men wearing identical beige uniforms appeared before him.
“They looked like members of some sort of special security forces. They took a picture of me and then wrapped my whole face in tape again, leaving only a small place for me to breath out of. I felt like a mummy,
“They put me in a cold place and clipped something onto my toes. Then the electric shocks came, he sighs.
After an eight hour long nightmare flight, the plane finally touched down. As soon as the plane doors were opened, Abu Omar could tell where he was.
“I knew I was in Egypt because I heard the ‘muezzin’, the call to prayer as I stepped out of the plane. I recognized the smells and sounds of my home country,
Upon arrival, Abu Omar claims he was put on a microbus. His plastic chains were also exchanged for iron shackles.
“We drove for maybe 30 minutes. Then they put me in a room in front of a wall. They took off the duck tape on my face. Lots of hair followed with it. It hurt a lot. When they took off my blindfold, I realized I was wearing a diaper. The whole thing was very bizarre, he says shaking his head.
The Imam was allegedly then interrogated and photographed before being notified that he was about to meet ‘two paschas,’ or high-ranking officials.
According to Abu Omar, the Egyptian Minister of Interior appeared before him in the company of another official whom he couldn’t identify.
“I am almost one hundred percent sure that it was the Minister of Interior. They asked me to cooperate with them. I even read about it in a newspaper article in 2005 when I was in prison.
Furthermore, Abu Omar says he was offered to return to Italy straight away if he agreed to cooperate with the Egyptian authorities. He stresses he refused.
Following his refusal to cooperate with the national authorities, Abu Omar argues that he was detained for seven months in Hadel Obra security prison in harsh conditions.
“I was put in a small cell with a tiny window. I was constantly subject to interrogations and torture. They hit me with chains and batons. I had no idea why I was there or why I was being beaten. No one knew where I was I was. Not even my family, he says.
Following the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Abu Omar says he was told by prison personnel that he was kidnapped because the authorities knew that he would start a ruckus in Italy.
While torture and abuse allegedly was a common feature in Abu Omar’s prison life, he stresses that security pressured him to sign papers stating he was never tortured in prison.
“They used to hang me upside down from the ceiling and give me electric shocks. They even put electrodes on my genitals, Abu Omar says.
In 2004, Abu Omar was briefly released from prison on the condition that he would not tell anyone what happened to him.
“Here, take a look at it for yourselves, he says and shows us a wrinkled sheet of paper with instructions from the Egyptian state security.
“I was warned not to speak with the European authorities or human rights organizations. I was also given careful instructions not to tell anyone what happened to me or leave my hometown of Alexandria without permission from Egyptian state security, Abu Omar stresses.
However, Abu Omar did not abide by his rules and returned instead to his family home in Alexandria where he called his wife and friends in Milan to tell them what had happened to him.
The calls were recorded by Italian police wiretaps, which made the Egyptian security service pay a house visit to Abu Omar.
Having enjoyed approximately three weeks as a free man, Abu Omar was re-arrested as a danger to the state under Egypt’s emergency law. Abu Omar was taken to Amnet Caomy national security prison where he reportedly met other so-called ghost detainees including Ahmed Agiza who was renditioned from Sweden in 2001 with the help of CIA agents.
“I was kept in a dark cell underground, but I could constantly hear voices. I peaked out of the prison doors and could see at least 15 other people in cells around me.
Abu Omar faced tough conditions in the underground prison, losing almost 25 kilos.
“I just got enough food so that I stayed alive. They only fed me bread and rice. No meat at all. My hair turned completely white. Once they shaved my head. I looked like Saddam Hussein, he says.
Most of his time in Egyptian imprisonment, however, was spent at the infamous prison institution Tora, located outside Cairo.
“I was in Tora for three years altogether. I saw many detainees there. Mainly from the Muslim Brotherhood and Gamaat Islamiya, he adds.
During his time at Tora, Abu Omar claims he was offered $2 million dollars and American citizenship from a senior CIA official.
“I can’t say who it was, but the offer was there. I rejected it, he emphasizes.
It wasn’t until 2006, after approximately 3 years of imprisonment, that Abu Omar’s legal advisor, Montasser al-Zayat, was finally able to visit his client and tell him why he was in prison.
“I remember the prosecutor visiting me in prison to check on my torture damages. I was wondering what took them so long, he says.
After a circus-like judicial process surrounding his case that resulted in his release, re-arrest, transfer, and even disappearance for a few days in early 2007, Abu Omar was finally ordered to be released in early 2007.
While he is enjoying his newly won freedom, he argues that although he might be free on paper, he is still a prisoner in practice.
“I can’t work. I can’t get a national identity card, I can’t apply for a passport. I can’t leave Alexandria without permission from the Egyptian authorities. I know my phones are tapped. My life is still restrained, he sighs.
Furthermore, Abu Omar argues that his time in Egyptian prisons has left him with liver and heart diseases that are expensive to treat.
When asked about his future plans, Abu Omar stresses that he wants to go back to Italy where he was able to live a peaceful life without problems.
“I want a better life. It could be in Italy or anywhere. I want freedom, he adds.
“Sources have told me that the Italian authorities want me back. I want to attend the trial of the men and women responsible for me and my family’s suffering. But it’s hard when the Egyptian authorities are imposing a travel restriction on me.
Scheduled for early June, the trial would mark the first ever in a case of ‘extraordinary renditions.’
The case also highlights the first time that a foreign government files criminal charges against US operatives for their role in a counterterrorism mission.
With thanks to Hossam El-Hamalawy
