9. What Happened at Abu Ghraib?

What Happened at Abu Ghraib?

 

      Many events occurred at Abu Ghraib during the prison abuse scandal. There were prisoners who were subjected to the harshest form of treatments. Many of the men were left out for a majority of the time in the nude. This was part of a mental mind punishment by the holders, as in Iraqi culture it is a form of disrespectful for men to be naked in from of other men or women. As an additional hit to the prisoner’s culture, they were held in rooms together naked. 

       This was another hit to the culture, as it is seen as a form of homosexuality to be naked in the same room with multiple men. The male prisoners were placed in positions that made it look as though they were involved in lewd acts with each other and pictures were taken. While others were subjected to being placed in stressful positions such as being chained to a cell in an uncomfortable position.  The torture carried on to the men being stacked on top of one another naked, and were even forced to perform other acts that would be considered illegal in their culture. Many of the male prisoners could be heard crying out aloud for Allah and begged to not be interrogated.

          Then, the Prison Riot of 2003 made situations at Abu Ghraib even worse.  The Military Intelligence Police were highly agitated and return their frustrations through acts of aggression toward the prisoners. The MI police rounded up the “suspected” rioters and placed on the floor. Many of the MI soldiers participated in kicking them, stepping on toes, and hands to cause pain upon the rioters. The pain did not stop there.  The rioters were beating and punished until they confessed to the riot. Graner wanted to prisoners to suffer.  He made them crawl on the floor while naked and shackled together. The act caused much distress and the prisoners could be heard crying out in pain and anguish.

          Though the actions seemed awful, they did increase when the prisoners entered into the interrogation rooms. One example was when one soldier was taking an Iraqi pass an area where interrogations were taken place and the Iraqi told the soldier thank you for not taking him to be interrogation. The prisoners were beaten in the interrogation room. Al-Jamadi is the only photographed prisoner who is known to have died in Abu Ghraib. Prisoners’ civil rights were not in existence in Abu Ghraib.  The prisoners were not even registered or issued a number. It was said that the prisoner, Al-Jamadi, died of a heart attack, but he actually died in the interrogation room. The death caused a major cover-up with the CIA and Navy Seals.  The American CIA and Navy Seals tried to cover it up by placing the body in ice for 24 hours.  On the next day they would bring the deceased prisons out on a stretcher the next day with an IV in his arm. Graner and Sabrina were noted for their photographs of Abu Ghraib and they were charged because they actions.