January 31, 2005
UCSC lecturer debunks Iraqi refugee's tale
of torture
By Tim Stephens
Sara Solovitch, a lecturer in UCSC's science writing program,
was looking forward to working with a modern-day hero when she
drove to San Jose last August for her first meeting with Jumana
Mikhail Hanna.
Sara Solovitch
Photo: Steve Fisch
|
In July 2003, the Washington Post had run a powerful
front-page story about Hanna, an Iraqi woman who said she had
endured torture and rape in an Iraqi prison in the mid-1990s.
Her harrowing story was cited in Senate testimony by Deputy
Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and Hanna had been granted
refugee status and resettled in San Jose.
Solovitch had just signed a contract to coauthor a book with
Hanna about her horrific experiences under Saddam Hussein's
regime. But Hanna's story soon began to unravel as Solovitch
tried to confirm the details. In a lengthy article in the January
issue of Esquire magazine, Solovitch describes how she
gradually came to the realization that Hanna had fabricated
the entire story and fooled everyone from the Pentagon to the
Washington Post.
Since the publication of Solovitch's Esquire article,
the Washington Post has published a report acknowledging
that the original story was based on false claims, as well as
an article by the Post's ombudsman about the newspaper's
investigation of the story. In addition, Solovitch's debunking
of the Post story has been covered by the New York
Times, Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, National Public Radio,
and other media.
Solovitch, who lives in Santa Cruz and teaches a course on
"The Science Profile" for the Science Communication
Program, is a freelance magazine writer and former staff writer
for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her stories have appeared
in Esquire, Outside, Wired, Omni, Legal Affairs, and
other publications, and she has won numerous awards, including
the 2002 Outstanding Magazine Article by the American Society
of Journalists and Authors.
Links:
• Sara
Solovitch's Esquire story
• Washington
Post story
• Washington
Post ombudsman's response
• New
York Times story
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