THE CIA VAULT: The Abu Ghraib Secret Prison
Revisiting the US military and CIA's inhumane treatment of prisoners in Iraq.
Black Sites
After the 9/11 terror attacks, Americans were out for blood. Demagogic politicians like former President Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld took advantage of American rage and confusion to begin the ill-fated War on Terror. The CIA used the campaign to institute black sites. Black sites are secret prisons operated by the CIA.
Manadel al-Jamadi
Manadel al-Jamadi was an Iraqi national killed during a CIA interrogation in Abu Ghraib. According to sworn testimony, he was brought in by Navy Seals and tortured in a shower room until he died about an hour later. Prison personnel put his body on ice, locked it away in the shower room, and staged an IV drip the next day to hide the truth from the other prisoners.
Discovery
Major General Antonio Taguba led an investigation into the prison and published a 2004 report detailing the abuse he saw there. Here are excerpts from his report.
"That between October and December 2003, at the Abu Ghraib Confinement Facility (BCCF), numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees. This systemic and illegal abuse of detainees was intentionally perpetrated by several members of the military police guard force (372nd Military Police Company, 320th Military Police Battalion, 800th MP Brigade), in Tier (section) 1-A of the Abu Ghraib Prison (BCCF). The allegations of abuse were substantiated by detailed witness statements (ANNEX 26) and the discovery of extremely graphic photographic evidence...In addition to the aforementioned crimes, there were also abuses committed by members of the 325th MI Battalion, 205th MI Brigade, and Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center (JIDC). Specifically, on 24 November 2003, [name redacted] , 205th MI Brigade, sought to degrade a detainee by having him strip and returned to cell naked. (ANNEXES 26 and 53)".
"...that the intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included the following acts:
a. (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet;
b. (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;
c. (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing;
d. (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time;
e. (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women's underwear;
f. (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped;
g. (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;
h. (S) 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;
i. (S) Writing “I am a Rapeist” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;
j. (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee's neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture;
k. (S) A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee;
l. (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee;
m. (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees. (ANNEXES 25 and 26)"
MG Antonio M. Taguba (June 4, 2004). "Taguba Report" (PDF). Department of Defense.
Conclusion
Thanks to people like Major General Antonio Taguba and investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, the world learned about Abu Ghraib’s human rights abuses. Eleven soldiers were convicted for their involvement there. Bush and Rumsfeld both apologized for America’s abuse. A $5 million settlement was paid out to the victims of Abu Ghraib and other similar facilities. Despite what happened to him, no one was charged with Manadel al-Jamadi‘s death at the hands of the CIA. The prison camp was closed down by the Iraqi government in 2014.
Next week’s episode will cover a different yet similar story. Thanks for reading.