PETALING JAYA: One of two Malaysian detainees repatriated from the US-run Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba sketched various forms of torture he endured during interrogation by agents from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), FMT reported.On the advice of Christine Funk, a lawyer appointed to him by US authorities, Farik Amin produced the sketches during the final five years of his detention.
The drawings were intended for submission to the US military court in Guantanamo Bay when his and fellow Malaysian Nazir Lep's cases were heard in January.
Now declassified, the exhibits were submitted to the court as part of his mitigation plea for a reduced sentence.
According to military court rules, a jury may take into account the "nature and duration of pre-trial detention" when deciding on a suitable punishment or suggesting clemency.
In January, Farik, 49, and Nazir, 48, received 23-year prison sentences each for their involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings that claimed 202 lives.They pleaded guilty under a pre-trial agreement with prosecutors that allowed for their repatriation to a third country and release after five years.
The duo admitted to conspiring with Indonesian Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali, the mastermind of the bombings.
They have also given testimony to be used in Hambali's trial, which is set to begin in March next year.
According to the documents, both detainees told the court about the inhumane and cruel methods employed by CIA agents while they were held in solitary confinement in a secret prison in Afghanistan for three and a half years, following their arrest in Thailand in 2003.
Farik said he was not allowed to shower or brush his teeth for several months.
"I was held nude and handcuffed, with my legs chained to the floor for months. I could not move around in the cell. I soiled myself while in this position. The only noise I could hear was white noise buzzing all the time, 24/7. I have nightmares all the time (because of what I went through)," the documents quoted him as saying.
Farik said he was punched, subjected to severe pain, and humiliated throughout the period. He said an agent would slap his hands away whenever he tried to cover his genitals.
Psychiatrist Hawthorne E. Smith, in her report on Farik, said the latter had changed his views after realising he could not change the world.
Smith said Farik, who started as an idealistic youth from a relatively poor family, was prepared to make sacrifices to defend his faith, which he believed was under threat at the time.
Farik communicated with her via letters written in English for about nine months before deciding to plead guilty, Smith said.
Farik said he had wanted to do something meaningful for his faith and family during his young adulthood.
"Mr Amin (Farik) has been cooperative, pleasant, calm, and behaviorally compliant during his incarceration. Even during moments of stress or tension, he has not become aggressive or confrontational.
At times, he has wondered if this had worked to his detriment as he felt he was not heard because he 'rarely acts out'. His evolution in thinking of jihad less as an external event, and more as an internal struggle to purify one's heart and do good works, indicates a low probability that he will be re-radicalised," said Smith.