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Human rights in post-invasion Iraq

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There are allegations that the use of torture in Iraq did not end with the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. According to the Washington Post, the coalition forces regularly use "torture lite" methods during the interrogation of suspects. Such methods have reportedly been instrumental in the capture of Saddam Hussein. There have also been allegations of British troops torturing Iraqi prisoners of war. While such treatment violates the U.S. and Britain's official policies on combat and occupation, and despite numerous complaints by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, it took a year before the first US soldier was court martialed for their actions concerning abuse of Iraqis.

Specific incidents

Several specific incidents have come to light including

  • In June 2003, Gary Bartlam, a British soldier of the Desert Rats, was arrested after submitting film to a photo developers shop in Tamworth, England while on leave. The photographs depict a gagged Iraqi POW suspended on a fork lift, and other pictures seem to show prisoners being forced to perform sexual acts.
  • A U.S. major alleged that British Colonel Tim Collins of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment mistreated Iraqis, for example pistol-whipping an Iraqi civil leader. After an inquiry, Collins was cleared of all charges.
  • An al-Jazeera reporter that was arrested and locked up in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison complex reported various abuses such as being forced to strip naked, standing up for 11 hours and being kicked when he collapsed, being forced to wear a vomit-covered jumpsuit, and many other abuses. [1].
  • In March, 2004, the U.S. charged 6 soldiers in Abu Ghraib with dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and sexual abuse. 17 others were suspended from duty including the seven U.S. officers who ran the prison. Also recommended for discipline was Brig. Gen Janice Karpinski, the commander of the 800th brigade.
  • Allegations have been made that the tactics used by U.S. Marines in the seige of Fallujah in April 2004 violated human rights. Eyewitness reports from residents fleeing the city and peace activists alleged that Marine snipers targeted civilians and medical personnel ([2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]). Many newspaper reports indicate that a significant proportion of the casualties in Fallujah were women and children [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. In a newspaper interview [13], a US sniper describes Fallujah as "target-rich", and states "as a sniper your goal is to completely demoralize the enemy". There are also reports that US and Spanish troops forced Fallujah hospitals to be evacuated when they were needed most urgently [14]. The U.S. military mostly denied the allegations of human rights abuses.
  • On April 28, 2004, amid the worsening reports coming out of Abu Gharib, news reports emerged that six new MPs working at the prison were being charged after a soldier came forward in January with pictures that he found disturbing. The soldier was reported as saying "There are some things going on in here that I can't live with." One picture showed the stacking of prisoners into a human pyramid, with one prisoner's skin visibly bearing a slur written in English. Another showed a prisoner being forced to stand on a box with wires attached to his head and hands, who had reportedly been told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted. In an interview with Dan Rather, the deputy director of operations for the US-led coaltion, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmit, stated "We're appalled. These are our fellow soldiers. These are the people we work with every day. They represent us. They wear the same uniform as us, and they let their fellow soldiers down. If we can't hold ourselves up as an example of how to treat people with dignity and respect, we can't ask that other nations do that to our soldiers."
  • On May 1, 2004, photos of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq being abused and humiliated by United States soldiers provoke an international outrage.[15]

In response to ongoing complaints, the US military initiated a program to reform the internment and treatment systems. The reforms are expected to increase safeguards for prisoners' rights, to ensure each prisoner receives a copy of their internment order, and has their charges explained to them within 72 hours. They additionally plan to publicly post information about detainees so that family members can know what happened to their loved ones.

The reforms came in March, a month in which some of the worst abuses of prisoners during the US occupation were reported. These included theft of prisoner's posessions by soldiers, dirty, cramped quarters and bad food, prisoners forced into uncomfortable positions for prolonged periods of time, extreme exposure to the elements, and excessive jailings of people based on the paid testimony of individual informants. 55-year old cafe owner Mahmoud Khodair, who was arrested and held for six months before being released in early march without ever knowing what he was charged with, stated, "It was just like hell", and "Nothing has changed since Saddam. Before, the Mukhabarat [secret police] would take us away, and at least they wouldn't blow down the door. Now, some informant fingers you and gets $100 even if you're innocent." [16]

Allegations of human rights abuses by UK troops in Iraq

Photographs of alleged prisoner abuses published in the Daily Mirror were published within 48 hours of the breaking of the story of abuses by US troops in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The authenticity of the photographs was called into question a day later, with evidence emerging that the photographs may have been forged to besmirch the UK military. In particular, a number of specifics in the images, such as the type of rifles the soldiers in the picturies are carrying and the type of trucks pictured appear not to match the equipment used by UK troops in Iraq. General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, said "if proven, the perpetrators are not fit to wear the Queen's uniform and they have besmirched the Army's good name and conduct".

Photographs of the alleged abuse

Pictures handed over by British soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (note: these may not be authentic). Courtesy of Daily Mirror. (Click images to enlarge and for detailed description of them.)

Photo by UK troops. Courtesy of Daily Mirror. Photo by UK troops. Courtesy of Daily Mirror. Photo by UK troops. Courtesy of Daily Mirror.
Photo by UK troops. Courtesy of Daily Mirror. Photo by UK troops. Courtesy of Daily Mirror.

Photographs of the US torture images released so far are available at The Memory Hole (note: contains some human nudity). Other photographs, such as a man being attacked by a dog and a military contractor raping a juvenile male while a female soldier watched, have not been released.

See also

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