Abu Ghraib: Charges Against Military Personnel

Charges Against Military Personnel accused of having engaged in acts of brutality, abuse, and torture at Abu Ghraib, one of ten Enemy Prisoner of War Camps in Iraq, began on April 28, 2004.

Bradley Graham reported in the May 22, 2004, Washington Post that the "Number of Army Probes of Detainee Deaths Rises to 33. Eight New Criminal Cases Include That of Iraqi Major General Who Led Hussein's Air Defenses".


 * News Release Number: 04-01-03, U.S. Central Command, January 16, 2004:


 * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


 * DETAINEE TREATMENT INVESTIGATION


 * BAGHDAD, Iraq - An investigation has been initiated into reported incidents of detainee abuse at a Coalition Forces detention facility. The release of specific information concerning the incidents could hinder the investigation, which is in its early stages. The investigation will be conducted in a thorough and professional manner. The Coalition is committed to treating all persons under its control with dignity, respect and humanity. Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the Commanding General, has reiterated this requirement to all members of CJTF-7.


 * See Combined Joint Task Force 7

From the headlines
On May 8, 2004, the Associated Press reported that:


 * "Army Pfc. Lynndie R. England, shown in photographs smiling and pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners, was charged Friday by the military with assaulting the detainees and conspiring to mistreat them.


 * "England, 21, is accused of 'assaulting Iraqi detainees on multiple occasions;' conspiring with another soldier, Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr., to mistreat the prisoners; committing an indecent act; and committing acts 'that were prejudicial to good order and discipline and were of nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces through her mistreatment of Iraqi detainees.'"

In a May 13, 2004, press conference, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers said that the [http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=May&x=20040514164950sjhtrop0.3854029&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html Prisoner Abuse Investigation Won't Be Fast. Military legal process must be allowed to 'run its course'."]

Myers added that "the furor over the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal needs to be calmed down because if the investigative process is compromised, there is a danger of violating the U.S. Constitution. 'It's very important not to rush to judgments,' the general said. The U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) process must be allowed to work."

Preferred Charges

 * Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr.: "alleging conspiracy to maltreat detainees; dereliction of duty for willfully failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment; maltreatment of detainees; assaulting detainees; committing indecent acts; adultery; and obstruction of justice." May 14, 2004
 * Sergeant Javal S. Davis: "alleging conspiracy to maltreat detainees; dereliction of duty for willfully failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment; maltreatment of detainees; assaulting detainees; and making a statement intended to deceive an investigator." April 28, 2004.
 * Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits: "alleging conspiracy to maltreat detainees, and dereliction of duty for negligently failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment." May 5, 2004.


 * Ivan L. Frederick III

Army Cover-Up

 * On May 18, 2004, ABC News' Brian Ross and Alexandra Salomon reported in "'Definitely a Cover-Up'. Former Abu Ghraib Intel Staffer Says Army Concealed Involvement in Abuse Scandal" that military analyst Sgt. Samuel Provance, described as "a key witness in the investigation," told ABC News that "Dozens of soldiers -- other than the seven military police reservists who have been charged -- were involved in the abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, and there is an effort under way in the Army to hide it."


 * In a follow-up to that ABC News' story, Ross and Salomon reported on May 21, 2004, in "Continuing the Cover-Up?" that Sgt. Provance had been "stripped of his security clearance and told he may face prosecution because his comments [to ABC News] were 'not in the national interest.'"


 * Additionally, Provance "was transferred to a different platoon, and his record was officially 'flagged,' meaning he cannot be promoted or given any awards or honors. ... Provance said he was told he will face administrative action for failing to report what he knew at the time and for failing to take steps to stop the abuse."


 * Provance's attorney, Scott Horton, said that he sees the Army's actions "as an effort to intimidate Sgt. Provance and any other soldier whose conscience is bothering him, and who wants to come forward and tell what really happened at Abu Ghraib."

Background Information

 * Army Regulation 190-8. Military Police Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees.


 * "Rules of the System," Washington Post Op-Ed, May 11, 2004:


 * On June 27, 2003, President George W. Bush "pledged in a speech that the United States would not use torture on detainees in the war on terrorism. The same day, the Defense Department's general counsel released a letter specifying that 'all interrogations, wherever they may occur,' would not violate prohibitions in the U.S. Constitution against cruel and unusual punishment. It turns out those assurances were false. Two months earlier, The Post reported Sunday, the Pentagon had approved interrogation techniques for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison that allowed the disruption of sleep patterns and exposure to heat, cold and 'sensory assault.' Officials told reporter Dana Priest that similar procedures had been approved for 'high value' detainees in Iraq. Such abuse is impermissible under the Constitution; as recently as 2002 the Supreme Court ruled that similar treatment of an Alabama prisoner was an 'obvious' violation of the Eighth Amendment. Such practices also violate the Geneva Conventions, which the Bush administration says it is following in Iraq and applying to other detainees elsewhere.


 * "The crimes at the Abu Ghraib prison grew out of this improper system of interrogation. It is a regimen the administration has never fully disclosed, and about which it has misled Congress and the public through statements such as those of last June. Despite the incalculable damage caused by Abu Ghraib, the Bush administration persists in defending the system and in justifying its continued use, both at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq."


 * "Yet a growing body of evidence shows that the connection is integral. The commander who oversaw the implementation of the interrogation procedures at Guantanamo Bay, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, visited Abu Ghraib in September and recommended that at least one part of what he calls the Guantanamo Bay 'model' be applied there: the subordination of prison guards to the intelligence interrogators trying to extract information. There is considerable evidence that Abu Ghraib prison guards abused prisoners on the instruction of interrogators. The abuses they committed were, to a certain extent, an extreme and undisciplined version of practices that the Pentagon has officially condoned. Mr. Miller is now in charge of Abu Ghraib; he recently acknowledged that techniques such as hooding, sleep deprivation and other 'very aggressive' techniques had been used there. He did not say the practices would be stopped -- only that they would need specific approval in the future."


 * "But the administration hasn't limited its system to Guantanamo Bay or to senior al Qaeda detainees. It has applied the practices loosely across a network of detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, and it has trusted its implementation to civilian contractors and reservists. The result has been outrages that have done far more damage to the United States than any intelligence collection could justify."

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Abu Ghraib (Additional SourceWatch Resources)
 * Abu Ghraib (External Links)
 * U.S. Military Code of Conduct