Du sang sur le drapeau américain

Du sang sur le drapeau américain (Blood on American flag) is a short story written by Cosmos Eglo, a Togolese writer in exile.

Plot

Amid on-going battle and bloodbath in Darfur (Sudan, Africa), US secret service agents lay ambush to a man and abduct him. They put him in a plane, handcuffed and blindfolded. They take the captive to Guantanamo detention centre, on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities against the US.

Over there, the captive is tortured by flogging. He, however, vehemently denies any involvement in terrorism. His denial cost him further torture. He is then subjected to torture by sound (music played on extremely loud volume).

At the end of that torture session, the captive lies on the ground, motionless, on the brink of death, while colonel Christian Mackay (the US torturer in chief) threatens to take him to the “swimming pool” (torture by water).

For fear of further sufferings, the captive confesses being a terrorist, in charge of training would-be terrorists.

He is, in fact, Red Cross volunteer…

Literary Award

“2014 Prix du Concours International de Nouvelles ACPF – Dijon (France).

The author

Cosmos Eglo is a writer, journalist and human rights activist, already author of Du sang sur le miroir, a novel published by Edilivre in January 2009, and republished by Harmattan in September 2012.