Crimes of War

Talking points

The Administration’s Military Policies

· The US hopes to persuade the UN Security Council to renew a controversial resolution exempting American personnel from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court. Although the resolution is expected to be adopted on Friday, opposition among the wider UN membership following the abuse by Americans of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo is expected. At least four nations - Brazil, Spain, Germany and France - are expected to abstain. But US officials are confident they will reach the minimum nine votes needed for adoption in the 15-nation council.

· Even prior to the 9/11 attacks, many claim the Bush administration displayed hostility toward international law and treaty obligations that were considered limits on US national sovereignty or obstacles to American national Interest – as CIA Counterterrorism Center Head, Cofer black told Congress, “There was a before 9/11 and there was an after 9/11…After 9/11 the gloves come off.”

· US military doctrine of “force protection” mandates killing civilians perceived as being in any way threatening to American forces. This requires soldiers to treat all Iraqis as potential enemies and their lives as being of lesser worth than American lives.

The Abuse

· Under federal law, torture is a crime punishable with 20 years in prison. If the victim dies, the perpetuator can receive life in prison or the death penalty.

· “Massacre in America” a documentary aired in Germany in December 2002 illustrates abuse occurring in Afghanistan: One soldier recounts being ordered to shoot into a closed container carrying prisoners being transported. Some prisoners suffocated; others were dumped in the desert, shot and left to be eaten by dogs. According to his account, 30-40 American soldiers watched. To date, the U.S. military has admitted that two prisoners in Afghanistan were victims of homicide.

· According to one government consultant, photographing of sexually humiliated prisoners may have initially had the serious goal of driving prisoners to do anything to avoid having the photos shown to their families and friends. The consultant was told, “that the purpose of the photographs was to create an Amy of informants, people you could insert back into the population.”

· According to U.S. Army officials, 2 Iraqi prisoners have been killed by U.S. soldiers and 10 other deaths out of 25 reported in Iraq and Afghanistan are being investigated.

· Much of the confusion in the prison appears to stems from the blurring of identities and organizations. According to Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker, military intelligence personnel repeatedly wore unmarked uniforms or civilian clothing while on duty. Even the MP on duty had difficulty distinguishing who was doing what and who had the authority to give orders.

· One British special forces officer that returned from Iraq in April claims that the prison guards were using techniques known as R2I (Resistance to Interrogation) without knowing what they were doing. The R2I techniques are taught to British and US intelligence soldiers to withstand interrogation if captured by simulating capture and subjecting the soldiers to sexual jibes, degradation, and ill treatment. He says the “crucial difference from Iraq is that frontline soldiers who are made to experience R2I techniques themselves develop empathy…But people who haven’t undergone this don’t realize what they are doing to people. Its in shambles in Iraq.”

The Prisoners

· The U.S. military estimates that around 40,000 Iraqis have been detained since the country was invaded last year, most have been released. Around 10,000 remain in custody.

· According to New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh, Major General Geoffrey Miller – commander of the detention and interrogation center at Guantanamo – was called into Baghdad in August to review prison interrogation procedures. His plan was to “Gitmoze” the prison system in Iraq by making the focus interrogation using methods including exposure to temperature extremes, and placing prisoners in “stress positions” for extended periods.

Military Contractors in Command Structure

· According to the Brookings Institute more than 10% of U.S. personnel in Iraq are independent contractors. Defense analysts say contractors are not subject to military codes of conduct and not held to the same rules as government workers, including the Geneva Convention protecting human rights.

· Thousands of civilians in Iraq perform tasks previously done by soldiers – from cooking and cleanup, to mine sweeping, participating in interrogations, and acting as interpreters.

· Interpreters can be doctors, artists, grocery baggers, recent college grads and others that speak fluent English and Arabic with no direct background in translating. In Iraq, military officials depend on them for advise about culture and they may sit on high-level strategy meetings or help plan convoy routs and raids.

· In the 53 page report by Major General Antonio Taguba, military investigators conclude that, “In General, US civilian contract personnel (Titan Corporation, CACI, ect), third country nationals an local contractors do not appear to be properly supervised within the detention facility at Abu Ghraib.”

Psychology of Abuse: How did this happen?

· According to some women veterans and gender issue experts, the American women implicated in the prison scandal succumbed to a culture of power that the did not create, could not change and likely did not try. Additionally, women in the military police receive the same training as men and are “reflecting the culture that they’re part of.”

· One gender expert claims that while women can effectively change polices when they have large enough numbers, when women are in the minority, as in the military, they are forced to assimilate. Like women in the workforce dressing “for success,” women in the military learn to fit in by “toughing up and going along.”

· General William G Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence is on record as casting the war on terror as a religious war, saying the enemy “is a guy called Satan” and that Muslims worship “an idol.” Gen Boykin is in charge of the military intelligence official accused of encouraging the abuse of Iraqi Prisoners by guards to “soften them up” for interrogation.

A culture of abuse?

· The United States has been cited by the United Nations as a human rights violator – noting egregious violations, including the use of electric stun belts and restraint chairs on prisoners, prison chain gangs, sexual assault of female prisoners and detention of minors – in the US prison system.

· Severe overcrowding and understaffing in many domestic jails is reflected in the number of inmates injured in fights, experienced medical emergencies without proper attention and who managed to escape. In addition, more than 24,000 prisoners were confined to small windowless cells for 23 hours a day.

· Fifteen states did not have criminal laws prohibiting custodial sexual misconduct by guards, and human rights watch for than in most states, guards were not properly trained about their duty to refrain from sexual abuse of prisoners.

· Historically, women face the majority of sexual abuse in prisons and in military barracks: In March, 112 cases of sexual assault had been reported among American troops in the Middle East, three quarters of those assaulted are women. The Miles Foundation provides support for military assault victims received reports of 129 cases in the same month. They report that one third of all women veterans reported being sexually assaulted or physically harassed during their service.

Some Reform Strategies recommended by the Center for American Progress:

(full report at http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=70685 )

· Develop and institute a new system of management of detainees in Iraqi prisons

q Immediate education in the rights of prisoners under the Geneva Conventions...Both guards and detainees should receive clear guidance about the Conventions.

q Respect for religious practices. Military officials have provided the basic requirements of Muslim religious practice to detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The same should be done in Iraq.

q Fact-based, efficient processing and segregation of detainees. The vast majority of detainees are not of value to military operations.

q Proper training and command control of military units engaged in operations to capture suspected insurgents. The International Committee of the Red Cross reports that military intelligence officers estimate that from 70 to 90 percent of all prisoners in Iraq are detained by mistake.

q As is clear from the reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib, the poorly trained and understaffed military police who guarded prisoners had little or no Arabic language skills. Translators in interrogations may have been the only prison officials that detainees came into contact with who could speak Arabic. Translators not involved in interrogations should be provided in all Iraqi detention facilities.

q Begin construction immediately on new prison facilities to replace Abu Ghraib. Abu Ghraib stands as a symbol of Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule, marked by torture and brutality. The Iraqi people should be empowered to decide on whether Abu Ghraib should be destroyed or – as with the Tuol Seng prison in Cambodia – maintained as a memorial and museum to those who suffered under Saddam.

· Increase the guard-to-detainee ratio and remove civilian contractors from interrogation teams

q The reliance on private contractors to conduct interrogations of prisoners and determine conditions for detainees is inexplicable. They should be immediately removed from these teams and an investigation should be launched into the origins of this practice.

q The astonishingly low ratio of guards to prisoners in Iraqi facilities contributed to abuse. Estimates have ranged from 130 to 450 U.S. guards for up to 8,000 prisoners; this ratio compares unfavorably to Guantanamo, where 800 guards have responsibility for 600 prisoners.…The goal should be a ratio of one guard to every five prisoners, the current level at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The United States has said it will reduce the prison population to roughly 4,000 detainees, which would require approximately 800 guards.

· Compile and maintain a database so Iraqis can locate family members held in detention

· Expand the Pentagon investigation into the abuses to include the chain of command

· Create a permanent prison monitoring committee with Iraqi and international representation

50 Years Later: Black, White and Brown – Talking Points

“THE AFRICAN AMERICAN STRUGGLE for desegregation did not arise because anyone believed that there was something magical about sitting next to whites in a classroom. It was, however, based on a belief that the dominant group would keep control of the most successful schools and that the only way to get full range of opportunities for a minority child was to get access to those schools.” –Gary Orfield, The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University

What the Supreme Court Decided on May 17, 1954 :

(full text at www.nea.org/brownvboard/ )

Separate is inherently unequal.

The Court wrote: “We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Learning is hurt by segregation, racism, stereotypes, or reduced student achievement expectations.

The Court found that the evils of racial segregation affected students’ motivation and retarded educational and mental development.

The 2003 case of Grutter v. University of Michigan upheld the use of race in student law school admissions. Justice O’Connor restated the educational need to negate stereotypes:

“. . . diminishing the force of such stereotypes is both a crucial part of the Law School’s mission, and one that it cannot accomplish with only token numbers of minority students. Just as growing up in a particular region or having particular professional experiences is likely to affect an individual’s views, so too is one’s own, unique experience of being a racial minority in a society, like our own, in which race unfortunately still matters.”

Public education is an important government function.

The Court wrote: “Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local government… It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities…. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment.”

Education is a right, not a privilege.

The Court wrote: “In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he (or she) s denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”

* * *

After the Decision –

· The decision was met with massive resistance, including: closing public schools to thousands of students; the use of public funds in the form of vouchers allowed white students to attend all white private schools, and in some instances U.S. troops had to be called in to escort students into newly desegregated schools through mobs of white protestors and National Guardsmen.

· More than 38,000 black educators in 17 states lost jobs between 1954 and 1965. Dr. Mildred Hudson of Recruiting New Teachers attributes losses to school closings and student/faculty integration.

· By the 1970s the South had become the nation's most integrated region. In 1976, 45.1 percent of the South's African American students were attending majority white schools, compared with just 27.5 percent in the Northeast and 29.7 percent in the Midwest.

Continuing Desegregation Litigation –

· The Alabama Education Association and NEA supported litigation in Lee v. Macon is still under judicial review with court action ongoing. This complex desegregation case found disproportionately high numbers of African American students placed in special education -- supposedly reserved for physically or mentally challenged students with special needs. Disproportionately low numbers of African American students were in the state's gifted/talented programs.

· Brown’s legal arguments are being heard in the Kentucky case of McFarland, et al. v. Jefferson County Public Schools. At issue is whether a school district can use race to establish integrated learning environments and avoid racial isolation of its students. County schools operate on a “ managed choice” system that considers the following factors in making students’ school assignments: parent/student preference, student needs, school programs, school building size and capacity, and educational mission of the school district. Prior to “managed choice,” district schools operated under a 25-year old desegregation plan. The plan was dissolved when a court declared the school district was sufficiently integrated.

· In Sheff v. O'Neill, advocates for minority students in Hartford contended that racial segregation violated the Connecticut Constitution's segregation clause, and that they were entitled to a remedy that included integrating the suburbs as well as the city. In 1996, the Connecticut Supreme Court agreed. Last January, the parties settled: a $245 million integration plan will create a racially mixed setting -- in regular classrooms, after school programs and summer school -- for about 30 percent of Hartford students.

Sliding Backwards: Resegregation –

· Before they're even born, poor and minority children risk doing poorly in school. Contributing factors include: rigorous curriculum, teacher preparation/experience/attendance, class size, technology-assisted instruction, school safety, parent participation, student mobility, birth weight, lead poising, nutrition. In addition, far more minorities are placed in remedial courses. In 1994, 31% of black, 24% of Hispanic, and 35% of American Indian high school graduates took remedial courses, compared to 15% of whites and Asians.

· In New York City, per pupil spending ($10,500) remains half that of the rich Long Island suburb of Manhasset, where some $21,000 is invested yearly in each child's education. (Jonathan Kozol, “Beyond Black White and Brown,” The Nation 5/3/04)

Brown: Not JUST Black and White anymore –

· With continuing immigration, especially from Spanish-speaking and Asian countries, the issue of equal educational opportunity for non-English-speaking students remains increasingly central.

· In U.S. v. Texas (San Felipe Del Rio), the federal government sought to desegregate two neighboring school districts, one predominantly white and the other overwhelmingly Latino. In ordering the consolidation of the two districts, the district judge found that English language and cultural barriers precluded the successful integration of Latino students and that addressing the language limitations of both Anglo and Latino students was therefore an appropriate desegregation device. He ordered bilingual education for all students in the newly consolidated district.

· The rights of "Limited English Proficiency" (LEP) students were further enhanced by the Supreme Court's ruling in Lau v. Nichols in 1974. The case involved a class-action suit brought by non-English-speaking Chinese students living in San Francisco, who alleged a violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act because only 1,700 of about 35,000 Chinese students in need of special English instruction were actually receiving it. The Court ruled in favor of Lau that: [basic English skills] are the very core of what these public schools teach. We know that those who do not understand English are certain to find their classroom experiences wholly incomprehensible and in no way meaningful.

· Latinos confront segregation by race and income, and non-English speaking Latinos tend to be segregated in schools with each other. There has been no substantial gain for Latinos even during the civil rights era, and an increase in segregation is particularly notable in the west.

Desegregation in action –

· Topeka, KS: Made famous by the Brown v Board decision has achieved substantial desegregation – in 2001 black students were enrolled in schools that had 51% whites, and Topeka whites were in schools with 44% nonwhites (average) including a rapidly growing share of Latinos.

· Delaware is one of the nations most integrated states for black students behind Kentucky, Washington, Kansas and Nebraska. Rounding out the top ten is Indiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota Colorado and North Carolina.

· Some social and educational advantages of desegregation: minority students are exposed to higher set of educational expectations and career options, students complete more years of school, and black and white students who had cross-race friendships also had higher educational aspirations than those with same only same race friendships. This leads to higher comfort levels with members of different racial groups and a greater sense of civic engagement sand desire to live and work in multiracial settings.

· The Cambridge (Massachusetts) School Committee made a commitment to embrace a socio-economic desegregation plan attempting to preserve racial and ethnic diversity in a time when policies based solely on race may be prohibited. A 2002 survey of the racial and diversity experience of nearly of all 12^th graders in the Cambridge district had interesting results:

· Well over 75% of the seniors responded to the survey, of them 31% identified White, 18% African American, 10% Latino, 14% “other,” 10% multi racial and 4% Asian/

· Almost all students (90%) said they had a high degree of comfort working with people different from themselves in the classroom. Less than half reported a high degree of “encouragement” by teachers to work with students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

· In personal statements, students reported feeling “thankful” and “stimulated” by the diverse environment. Others said the diversity “conquered many fears” about those of other races or affirmed their own heritage while teaching them to “respect others.” One immigrant student cited an increased understanding of English, and “different cultures.”

· Over 90% say they feel prepared to live and work among people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and comfortable working with a supervisor of a different racial or ethic background than their own.

· Less exciting were the response to the question of whether school counselors encouraged all groups of students to take more demanding classes to prepare students for college. The student response indicated that over 60% of Whites and Asians were encouraged, while less than half of African Americans and Latinos were encouraged to take the honors and AP classes. One student in an AP class remarked “the AP classes lack diversity. The classes that are more diverse are enjoyable and the AP course would be much better with a more diverse group of students.” (The impact of Racial and Ethnic Diversity on Educational Outcomes, Harvard Civil Rights Project, 2002)