Irish family reveal torture hell of dad in Iraqi jail for 3 years
Wife’s nightmare at innocent man’s cruel treatment by sadistic warders
THE family of a man who has been locked up in an Iraqi prison have revealed he has been tortured by his cruel captors.
Engineer Rob Pether, 49, has been behind bars since April 7, 2021, after he was caught up in a €20million contract row between his Dubai-based employer and the Central Bank of Iraq.
He revealed he was interrogated in a Baghdad torture chamber at the start of his harrowing ordeal.
His wife Desree, 52, from Roscommon told the Irish Mirror last night: “It breaks my heart when I think about his situation.”
The dad-of-three said he was “blindfolded and in handcuffs” for four days in an interrogation centre and put into the torture room. He said it had “wall brackets to suspend or hold people, ropes for putting people into stress positions, electrical equipment for shocks and canes for beating”.
Mr Pether also described terrifying torture apparatus. He said: “It is a rubber mask with small slits for breathing but it restricts air that can come in.
“The interrogations put you under physical stress so that you breathe more heavily, but as there is not enough air coming in the mask the wearer suffocates and blacks out.” Desree said: “Will we ever see him again?” She added: “He’s one of the nicest people on the planet.
“And that’s what breaks my heart about how he’s being treated.”
Rob is originally from Australia but lives in Elphin, Co Roscommon, with wife Desree and their children Flynn, 20, Oscar, 18, and 11-year-old Nala.
Flynn said: “Our only hope is there is some humanity and he is released.” Oscar said: “All that time we have been trying to prove his innocence and we have been ignored.” Nala said: “I just want my dad back. I miss him so much.”
Desree added: “We are devastated that he is still there. Flynn is finishing his 3rd year engineering and turning 21 in June.
“He was doing his Leaving Cert when Robert was arrested. So much time has been ripped away from us.”
Rob was arrested in Iraq when he went to a meeting to discuss stalled works on the new bank in Baghdad.
The UN said he was “forcibly disappeared” and demanded his immediate release.
Desree fears for Rob’s health and worries that the skin cancer he survived in 2005 has exhibited signs of returning.
The Department of Foreign Affairs told the Irish Mirror officials are in regular contact with the family.