Systematic
It is again surprising to see the angle of the media coverage, and this time of the prison abuse in Iraq.
The media acts as if it is shocking and new information, while (a) it has been known and reported since the beginning of the occupation, (b) systematic dehumanization of the opponents inevitably leads to violence and abuse, and (c) similar abuse is systematic in US prisons in general.
Known
The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US military and guards have been reported since the beginning of the occupation. I addition, military personnel from European countries have repeatedly commented on the excessive violence used by the US military.
Red Cross told US last year about abuse of prisoners
The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday it had last year repeatedly asked US prison authorities in Iraq to address serious and systematic ill-treatment of detainees, casting doubt on claims by the US administration that it only became aware of abuses in the Abu Ghraib prison in January when a US soldier came forward with photographic evidence.
A leaked confidential ICRC report on prisoner conditions in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in Iraq between March and November 2003 describes harsh treatment of detainees "in some cases tantamount to torture" that constituted serious violations of the Geneva conventions requiring the humane treatment of prisoners of war and civilian detainees.
Such treatment "went beyond exceptional cases and might be considered as a practice tolerated" by coalition forces, the report said.
[...] The report, based on ICRC interviews with prisoners, included abuses now revealed in published photographs, for instance, "acts of humiliation such as being made to stand naked. . . with women's underwear over the head for prolonged periods, while being laughed at by guards, including female guards, and sometimes photographed in this position".
These and other methods of physical and psychological coercion "were used by the military intelligence in a systematic way to gain confessions and extract information", the report said.
[source - Financial Times, London]
Abuse in US-run prisons systematic: ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross claims the abuse it found in Iraq's US-run prisons was systematic and amounted to "torture".
Furthermore, the organisation says it first raised concerns with the US about the abuse of Iraqis more than a year ago.
[...] "It is clear that our findings do not allow to conclude that what we were dealing with here in the case of Abu Ghraib (a notorious detention centre near Baghdad) was isolated acts of individual members of the coalition forces,"Mr Kraehenbuehl told journalists.
"What we have described amounts to a pattern, a broad system," he said.
The Wall Street Journal said the report, which was submitted to the US government in February, detailed mistreatment at prisons other than at Abu Ghraib, which shot to prominence last week after pictures showing US soldiers allegedly abusing Iraqi prisoners were published in US media.
[...] "Findings that are contained in this particular report were previously discussed at different levels of the coalition forces at different moments between March and November of 2003," the ICRC official said.
[source - Sidney Morning Herald]
Dehumanization
The US government rhetoric (adopted by US media) is designed for dehumanization of the opponent. "You are with us or against us", "axis of evil", branding legitimate resistance fighters "terrorists", and so on. A series of actions further supports the dehumanization. One of many examples is the lack of officials numbers of Iraqis killed since the war started (numbering tens of thousands), giving the clear message that their lives are less important than that of westerners. This type of dehumanization inevitable leads to violence, abuse, and human rights violations.
Fiendebildet kan ha ført til mishandling
George W. Bush' fremstilling av fienden i Irak som ond, som en del av ondskapens akse, er en viktig forutsetning for mishandlingen av fanger som vi nå ser, mener psykolog Nora Sveaass.
[...] Det må ha vært en prosess forut for at disse soldatene ble med på mishandlingen av de irakske fangene. Utøverne av volden må ha blitt fortrolig med tanken om at de sto overfor en fiende som ikke har krav på respekt og verdighet, en fiende som er avhumanisert, sier sjefpsykolog Nora Sveaass ved nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress.
[...] Det er mye mer et uttrykk for at samtidig som de har vært utsatt for et voldsomt press, så har de også vært utsatt for en veldig sterk propaganda for å rettferdiggjøre krigen, sier hun. - I den politiske argumentasjonen og ellers er irakerne blitt fremstilt som bærere av ondskap, som må bekjempes.
[source - Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation]
Human Rights Violations in US Prisons
Mistreatment of Prisoners Is Called Routine in U.S.
Physical and sexual abuse of prisoners, similar to what has been uncovered in Iraq, takes place in American prisons with little public knowledge or concern, according to corrections officials, inmates and human rights advocates.
In Pennsylvania and some other states, inmates are routinely stripped in front of other inmates before being moved to a new prison or a new unit within their prison. In Arizona, male inmates at the Maricopa County jail in Phoenix are made to wear women's pink underwear as a form of humiliation.
At Virginia's Wallens Ridge maximum security prison, new inmates have reported being forced to wear black hoods, in theory to keep them from spitting on guards, and said they were often beaten and cursed at by guards and made to crawl.
The corrections experts say that some of the worst abuses have occurred in Texas, whose prisons were under a federal consent decree during much of the time President Bush was governor because of crowding and violence by guards against inmates. Judge William Wayne Justice of Federal District Court imposed the decree after finding that guards were allowing inmate gang leaders to buy and sell other inmates as slaves for sex.
[...]
Nationwide, during the last quarter century, over 40 state prison systems were under some form of court order, for brutality, crowding, poor food or lack of medical care, said Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy group in Washington that calls for alternatives to incarceration.
In a 1999 opinion, Judge Justice wrote of the situation in Texas, "Many inmates credibly testified to the existence of violence, rape and extortion in the prison system and about their own suffering from such abysmal conditions."
[source - NY Times]
More
Amnesty International - USA Abuses
Human Rights Watch - USA
Human Rights Watch - Prisons
Prison Activist - Links
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Immunity and Privatization
And a follow-up on how the US is using a range of strategies to avoid accountability:
Iraq troops to get immunity
(Filed: 23/05/2004)
US and British soldiers in Iraq will retain immunity from prosecution after the handover of power in the country, according to newspaper reports.
[...] At the United Nations, the United States and Britain are drafting a new resolution to provide international backing for the interim government.
[...] A guarantee that those troops would not be liable to prosecution in Iraqi courts has been a key part in negotiations, reports claim.
[source - Telegraph, UK]
Privatised wars 'need new laws'
The rules are blurred in Iraq in ways never seen before. It might be called the first privatised war of modern times.
[...] The Red Cross is also worried about similar blurring right across the conflict because of the growth of private contractors.
[...] "Our concern is that there is a void of regulation; a void in terms of rules of engagement that may become a real danger once you put some of these people with a gun in the field.".
The Red Cross fears that private soldiers who breach international conventions might not be accountable, so it plans to get governments to hold companies to account.
[source - BBC]
