http://kerrypither.com author • advocate • commentator Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:41:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 http://kerrypither.com/2009/12/art-installation-depicting-syrian-detention-conditions-unveiled-in-ottawa-torture-survivors-still-seek-justice/ http://kerrypither.com/2009/12/art-installation-depicting-syrian-detention-conditions-unveiled-in-ottawa-torture-survivors-still-seek-justice/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:08:20 +0000 kerry http://kerrypither.com/?p=477 here. Ottawa — Three Canadian torture survivors were at a news conference in Ottawa today to unveil an art installation depicting some of the suffering they endured in a Syrian military intelligence detention centre. Created by Ottawa artist Jenn Farr and builder Erik Windfeld, “El Abbar” (the grave) is a life-size replica of one of the underground, tiny, dark cells at the now infamous Far’ Falastin (Palestine Branch) Syrian detention centre. Ahmad El Maati was locked into one of these cells for two and a half months before being sent to Egypt. Abdullah Almalki survived one year, three months and twenty-five days in the tiny space. Beside him, Maher Arar was locked up for ten months and ten days. Muayyed Nureddin was locked into an over-crowded “common” cell down the hall. El Maati, Almalki and Nureddin said they hope the installation will help Canadians, and the government, better understand the horrors of torture. “I think it is very difficult for anyone to truly comprehend the conditions I was kept in – the loss of control over every aspect of my life, the filth, the smell, the constant sounds of people being tortured, the constant fear that I would be next and the feeling of being buried alive,” said Almalki. “I hope this will at least get people thinking, and better understanding, the horrors of torture.”]]> http://kerrypither.com/2009/12/art-installation-depicting-syrian-detention-conditions-unveiled-in-ottawa-torture-survivors-still-seek-justice/feed/ 0