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