Prisoner Abuse and Torture
This section includes evidence of extrajudicial detentions, torture and prisoner abuse in Iraq and in the wider 'war on terror'.
- Prisoner abuse and torture in Iraq
- Soldiers' accounts of detainee abuse in Iraq (July 2006)
Based on first-hand accounts, this report finds evidence "that detainee abuse was an established and apparently authorized part of the detention and interrogation processes in Iraq for much of 2003-2005".
The report focusses on abuse of detainees in three places: Mosul Airport, 'Forward Operating Base Tiger' on the Syrian border, and under a task force based first at Camp Nema near Baghdad, then near to Balad.
- US State Department "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" (Iraq) (08 March 2006)
Report by the US State Department and part of a set of reports on human rights in countries receiving US aid.
While the report contains details of pre-trial detention, prisoner abuse, and torture, there is no mention of abuse by US (or other foreign) troops in the report.
"A climate of extreme violence in which people were killed for political and other reasons continued. Reports increased of killings by the government or its agents that may have been politically motivated. Additionally, common criminals, insurgents, and terrorists undermined public confidence in the security apparatus by sometimes masking their identity in police and army uniforms"
"Members of sectarian militias dominated police units to varying degrees and in different parts of the country ... During the year there were a number of deaths either at police hands or at the hands of militia members and criminals wearing police uniforms."
"Insurgents and terrorists killed thousands of citizens ... Using intimidation and violence, they kidnapped and killed government officials and workers, common citizens, party activists participating in the electoral process, civil society activists, members of security forces, and members of the armed forces, as well as foreigners. "
"Criminal and politically motivated disappearances and kidnappings, including those related to the ongoing insurgency, remained a severe problem ... During the year hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals disappeared without a trace, sometimes at the hands of the police. "
"On November 13, an overcrowded MOI detention center in Baghdad was discovered. This facility, the Jadiriyah Bunker, held 169 detainees, mostly Sunnis, many of whom showed signs of torture and abuse."
"Police abuses included threats, intimidation, beatings, and suspension by the arms or legs, as well as the reported use of electric drills and cords, and the application of electric shocks. Reportedly, police threatened or, in fact, sexually abused detainees. "
Iraqi officials were critical of the report.
- AI: Beyond Abu Ghraib: detention and torture in Iraq (06 March 2006)
Recent extensive report on detention and torture in Iraq, which focusses specifically on Amnesty's "concerns about human rights abuses for which the US-led MNF is directly responsible and those which are increasingly being committed by Iraqi security forces". See also Amnesty Press Release. Includes the call to governments supplying forces to the MNF, expecially the UK and the US, to "end indefinite internment of persons in Iraq", and the call to governments supplying forces to the MNF and to the Iraqi Authorities to "provide unhindered access to all places of detention, their installations and facilities, and detainees by relevant international organizations and bodies, including the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, and by Iraqi human rights organizations".
See also BBC News report
- American Civil Liberties Union: 'Soldiers Not Held Accountable for Abuse' (24 Jan 2005)
"Government investigations into allegations of torture and abuse have been woefully inadequate," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "Some of the investigations have basically whitewashed the torture and abuse. The documents that the ACLU has obtained tell a damning story of widespread torture reaching well beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib."
- American Civil Liberties Union: 'Task Force Threatened Agents Who Saw Detainee Abuse in Iraq' (07 Dec 2004)
'Documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal that a special operations task force in Iraq sought to silence Defense Intelligence Agency personnel who observed abusive interrogations and that the Department of Defense adopted questionable interrogation techniques at Guantanamo over FBI objections.'
The documents are posted at www.aclu.org/torturefoia.
- Taguba report (04 Apr 2004)
Report of a US army investigation into abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, compiled by Antonio Taguba. Taguba found strong evidence for "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" of inmates. Widely covered by the media, notably by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker. Also available in pdf format
- Amnesty International 'Iraq Crisis' homepage
Reports on torture and abuse of prisoners include 'AI reveals a pattern of torture and ill-treatment' and 'Pattern of brutality and cruelty - war crimes at Abu Ghraib' (7 May 2004).
- Amnesty International 'Stop Torture' campaign
- Christian Peacemaker Teams: Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign
The Christian Peacemaker Teams - one of the very few groups of internationals still maintaining a presence inside Iraq - have been running an Adopt a Detainee Campaign since Feb. 2004, pairing union, church, peace and anti-war groups around the world with individual detainees and getting them to write letters on behalf of their "adopted" detainee.
- Human Rights Watch 'US Torture and Abuse of Detainees' section
- HRW 'The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody' (Jan 2005)
A 94-page report documenting how unlawful arrest, long-term incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees (including children) by Iraqi authorities have become routine and commonplace. There is also a press release.
- HRW 'The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody' (Jan 2005)
- News reports
- BBC News: 'New 'torture jail' found in Iraq' (12 Dec 2005)
625 malnourished and tortured prisoners found in a Ministry of Interior prison in Baghdad.
- BBC News: 'New 'torture jail' found in Iraq' (12 Dec 2005)
- Soldiers' accounts of detainee abuse in Iraq (July 2006)
- Prisoner abuse and torture in the wider 'war on terror'
- Lancet letter: doctors condemn forcefeeding at Guantanamo (10 March 2006)
BBC News report: "More than 250 medical experts have signed a letter condemning the US for force-feeding prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The experts, from seven nations, said physicians at the prison had to respect inmates' right to refuse treatment.
The letter, in the medical journal The Lancet said doctors who used restraints and force-feeding should be punished by their professional bodies."
- UN Guantánamo Bay report (16 Feb 2006)
Five independent investigators of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights are calling on the United States to close immediately the detention centre in Guantánamo Bay and bring all detainees before an independent and competent tribunal or release them.
- See also Press Release
- UK Law Lords rule out torture evidence (08 Dec 2005)
In a unanimous ruling, the Law Lords determined that evidence obtained through torture will not be admissible in British courts.
Plus comment from Amnesty International, Liberty, and Human Rights Watch.
- UNHCR: High Commissioner for Human Rights says total ban on torture under attack in 'war on terror' (07 Dec 2005)
'The absolute ban on torture, a cornerstone of the international human rights edifice, is becoming a casualty of the so-called "war on terror", the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today. '
- Amnesty International: '800 secret CIA flights in and out of Europe' (Dec 2005)
'Amnesty International has revealed that six planes used by the CIA for renditions have made some 800 flights in or out of European airspace including 50 landings at Shannon airport in the Republic of Ireland.
The information contradicts assurances given last week by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern, that Ireland's Shannon airport had not been used for "untoward" purposes, or as a transit point for terror suspects.'
- Liberty and JUSTICE joint submission: UK Compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture Joint Committee on Human Rights (Sept 2005)
Criticises the UK government’s proposed use of diplomatic assurances to remove foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism back to countries known to practise torture.
- Amnesty International 'Stop Torture' campaign
- Human Rights Watch 'US Torture and Abuse of Detainees' section
- HRW 'The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody' (Jan 2005)
A 94-page report documenting how unlawful arrest, long-term incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees (including children) by Iraqi authorities have become routine and commonplace. There is also a press release.
- HRW 'The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody' (Jan 2005)
- News reports
- The Independent: 'MI5, Camp Delta, and the story that shames Britain' (16 March 2006)
The story of Bisher al-Rawi and Jamil el-Banna, two British residents held at Guantánamo Bay after being detained in the Gambia by US agents with British collusion. This account was written by their lawyer.
Jack Straw has since agreed to intervene in the case (23rd March 2006).
The BBC reported details of telegrams which confirm British involvement (28th March 2006).
- New York Times: 'Qaeda-Iraq Link U.S. Cited Is Tied to Coercion Claim' (09 Dec 2005)
'Officials said an inmate in Egyptian custody made up details about ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda in order to escape abuse.'
- BBC News: Q&A: US abuses in Afghan jails (22 May 2005)
- BBC News: 'CIA prisoners 'tortured' in Arab jails' (08 Feb 2005)
'A former CIA official has confirmed suspicions that dozens of terror suspects have been flown to jails in Middle Eastern countries where torture is routinely practised, and without reference to courts of law.'
- Guardian 'rendition' page
See also the testimony of six men caught up in the extrajudicial 'renditions'.
- The Independent: 'MI5, Camp Delta, and the story that shames Britain' (16 March 2006)
- Lancet letter: doctors condemn forcefeeding at Guantanamo (10 March 2006)