Sprol

When the story about torture in Abu Ghraib broke, most of the world was appalled. Members of the American military were not only torturing Iraq prisoners, but they were photographing each other committing the torture.

Some tried to write off the torture as mere pranks, the kind of thing that goes on in college dorms all of the time. Being forcibly sodomized with a broomstick is not a prank though, it is rape. Being forced to stand in the hot sun with your arms outstretched under threat of electrocution is not a prank, it is torture.

The Taguba Report, commissioned by the US government, lists the many abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in detail.

Among the findings were: Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet; Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees; Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing; Forcing detainees to remove their clothing andkeeping them naked for several days at a time; Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear; Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped; Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them; Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture; Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked; Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture; A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee; Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee; Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

According to many, both in government and in the press, we haven’t seen the worst images of the abuse and torture that were carried out at Abu Ghraib yet. There are stories of much worse brutality, including the rape of women and children, by members of US military and intelligence organizations. There have also been several cases, not just in Abu Ghraib but in the rest of Iraq and Afghanistan, of prisoners being beaten to death.

The government claims that there were just a few “bad apples” carrying out the abuse, but this does not stand up to scrutiny. Documents obtained in March 2005 by the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act contain reports of “ghosting” prisoners, making them disappear, when the Red Cross inspections of the prison were carried out. Some of the ghosted prisoners died from abuse.

Statements by Brigadier General Karpinsky and others also refer to “releaseaphobia”, the fear of releasing innocent detainees. Many of the Iraqis being detained at Abu Ghraib are innocent and were originally picked up for questionable reasons, such as being in a certain area when a sweep was made. To hold them after their innocence has been determined is again against both international law and US military codes.

There is growing documentation of children being held at Abu Ghraib. Iraqi TV reporter Suhaib Badr-Addin al-Baz was arrested and held at Abu Ghraib for 74 days. Al-Baz told the Scottish Sunday Herald, “I saw a camp for children there. Boys, under the age of puberty. There were certainly hundreds of children in this camp.” He went on to describe an ill 15 year old boy being repeatedly soaked with hoses and a 12 year old girl being stripped, soaked with water, and beaten.

A transcript of Brigadier General Janis Karpinski’s interview with Major General George Fay includes the description of an 11 year old boy being held in the prison. “He told me he was almost 12. He told me his brother was there with him, but he really wanted to see his mother, could he please call his mother. He was crying.”

There are other accounts of children being held in what has become on of the world’s, and history’s, most infamous prisons. Some of these reports contain details of children being mistreated to force confessions out of their parents, a clear breach of international law and US military conduct.

Seymour Hersch, who was instrumental in the original prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib, has claimed that the Pentagon has videotape of children being raped at the infamous prison.

Speaking at an ACLU event, Hersch said, “Some of the worst things that happened you don’t know about, okay? Videos, um, there are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at Abu Ghraib … The women were passing messages out saying ‘Please come and kill me, because of what’s happened’ and basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. And the worst above all of that is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror. It’s going to come out.”

The videos and additional images have yet to be released, but Hersch’s claims have been at partially supported by statements by Donald Rumsfeld that, “If these are released to the public, obviously it’s going to make matters worse,” and by a statement by Republican Senator Lindsay Graham that, “The American public needs to understand, we’re talking about rape and murder here. We’re not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience. We’re talking about rape and murder and some very serious charges.”

One of the defenses those who would sweep the nightmare of Abu Ghraib under the carpet use is that Saddam Hussein also used the prison for detaining the innocent and torturing people. It’s true, he did. Human rights groups reported on those crimes at the time and have continued to report on them since.

Saddam’s guilt does not absolve the US of guilt. Saddam Hussein is an acknowledged monster. Saying that he committed torture at Abu Ghraib first in no way forgives those who still abuse prisoners. The abuse at Abu Ghraib is part of a widespread pattern that indicates a systemic problem. Systemic problems start at the top, and there is little indication that this one has been fully addressed.

High Res Images for this article (as slideshow)