|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 23 May 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
The shame of Abu Ghraib by Jayatilleke de Silva It happened in November 2003. A group of night shift soldiers at Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad had assembled several prisoners, all Iraqis, into Cellblock 1A. They were all stripped naked by cutting off their clothes. What followed was sadist torture of a magnitude rarely witnessed even in the annals of military history. Naked prisoners were forced to pile up on the floor and army officers jumped on their bodies and crushed fingers and toes. The prisoners were asked to do various sex acts. One naked prisoner was kept standing on a box and wires were attached to his body besides covering his head with a hood. He was told that he would be electrocuted should he try to get down. Another prisoner, equally naked was asked to simulate oral sex with the former. He later told a TIME reporter that he felt a mouth close to his penis." While all these sadistic acts were done female soldiers joined their male counterparts in laughing and humiliating the victims. He also said that he was asked to masturbate as a female soldier bared her bare breasts. There were also reports of soldiers forcing female prisoners to undress and having sex with them. All these sadistic acts of torture were photographed by military police at Abu Ghraib. The photographing was for fun. It was when some of these photographs were flashed in the media in early May that the world came to know of the horrors at Abu Ghraib. It caused a worldwide condemnation of the US military in Iraq and anti-American sentiment, especially in the Arab world rose to unprecedented proportions. Christian Science Monitor compared the Abu Ghraib torture chambers with the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. "Like My Lai, it will leave a lasting stain", said the paper. US authorities tried to downplay the impact of the incident. President Bush denounced the acts and promised justice to the victims. However, he refrained from apologizing for it. To most Americans, both Republican and Democrat, it was only the act of a select few, an aberration. Evidence, however, is to the contrary. Major General Antonio Taguba who conducted an internal investigation reported "failure of leadership, lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision." There is no doubt that methods of interrogation applied at Abu Ghraib went far beyond what is approved by the Geneva Conventions. According to former prisoners at Abu Ghraib and several other prisons where the US is keeping Iraqis and suspected "terrorists", incarcerated prisoners are stripped naked, covered with hoods, deprived of sleep. Sexually humiliated and physically assaulted. All these violate the Geneva Conventions. Hence, the sadism and torture at Abu Ghraib cannot be considered an aberration of a few "bad guys". It is apart of the US prison system, a part of the war. The scandal at Abu Ghraib has brought up a political crisis in Washington. President Bush, true to his nature, has reprimanded Defence Secretary Rumsfield in private but defended him in public. Army Reserve Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, Commander of the 800th MP Brigade responsible for Abu Ghraib has been admonished. Seven soldiers PFC Lyndie R. England, Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr., Spc. Sabrina D. Harman, Staff Sgt. Ivan L (Chip) Fredrick and Spc. Jeremy C. Svits, Sgt. Javal S. Davis, Spc. Megan M. Ambuhl have been charged for the abuses. The Abu Ghraib scandal has endangered the chances of re-election of President Bush as more and more American people are questioning the wisdom of invading Iraq. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
