HRW lambasts US for failing to redress Abu Ghraib victims

An HRW report reveals that the US government has neglected to compensate or address the grievances of Iraqis who endured torture, false imprisonment, and other abuses for nearly two decades.

Sgt. Santos Cardona, left, with his tan Belgian shepherd Duco, Sgt. Michael Smith, right, with his black dog Marco, threaten a stripped-down detainee Mohammed Bollendia with Pvt. Ivan L. Frederick II, right, at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq on Dec. 12, 2003 (AP)

The United States government has failed to compensate or redress ex-prisoners who suffered torture, false imprisonment, and other abuses for nearly two decades after evidence emerged of the atrocities committed by US occupation forces in the infamous Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq, as shown in a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The US and its coalition allies held around 100,000 Iraqis in prison between 2003 and 2009, of which the International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that 70-90% were held under false allegations.

Many of those held in prison were subject to torture prohibited under US domestic law, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and the United Nations Convention Against Torture, as well as customary international law.

HRW interviewed Taleb al-Majli, a former detainee at Abu Ghraib prison, who was subject to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, including physical, psychological, and sexual humiliation at the hands of various US Army personnel between November 2003 and March 2005.

Al-Majli told HRW that he was one of several men who were forcefully hooded, stripped down naked, and piled on top of one another in a human pyramid. Two US servicepersons, Sabrina Harman and Charles Graner Jr., posed behind the pile of prisoners marking one of the most infamous and widely circulated pictures depicting the atrocities inside Abu Ghraib.

“Two American soldiers, one male and one female, ordered us to strip naked,” al-Majli said. “They piled us prisoners on top of each other. I was one of them.”

US Army personnel Spc. Sabrina Harman, middle, and Cpl. Charles Graner Jr., above, posing behind detainees who they stripped down and forced on top of each other in late 2003 at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq

Al-Majli is one of many who have been deeply scarred by the US occupation of Iraq and the systematic torture practiced by the US military, its allies, and private contractors in the Middle East.

“Twenty years on, Iraqis who were tortured by US personnel still have no clear path for filing a claim or receiving any kind of redress or recognition from the US government,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch.

“US officials have indicated that they prefer to leave torture in the past, but the long-term effects of torture are still a daily reality for many Iraqis and their families.”

Since his release, al-Majli has sought some form of redress; however, successive US administrations have either blocked or failed to create any legal pathways for those affected to receive compensation or even an apology.

Biden’s DoD ghosts HRW

HRW wrote to the US Department of Defense on June 6, 2023, “outlining al-Majli’s case, providing the research findings, and requesting information on compensation for survivors of torture in Iraq.”

The organization says despite multiple follow-up requests, the DoD did not address HRW’s requests. HRW says it was unable to find any legal pathway for al-Majli, who still suffers from mental health issues due to traumatic experiences, to file a claim seeking compensation.

“The US secretary of defense and attorney general should investigate allegations of torture and other abuse of people detained by the US abroad during counterinsurgency operations linked to its ‘Global War on Terrorism,'” Yager said. “US authorities should initiate appropriate prosecutions against anyone implicated, whatever their rank or position. The US should provide compensation, recognition, and official apologies to survivors of abuse and their families.”

The report also shows that successive US governments did not pay any compensation or other redress to victims of abuse in Abu Ghraib or other prisons in Iraq. Some detainees attempted to apply for compensation through the US Foreign Claims Act (FCA), which supposedly allows foreign nationals to obtain compensation for infringements caused by US service members.

However, the act excludes actions against “enemies” of the US forces and has a two-year time limit for filing from the date of the alleged harm. This has made it impossible for prisoners in Abu Ghraib to obtain redress from the US government.

Furthermore, the DoD failed to provide any responses to numerous inquiries made by HRW on whether the US government had disbursed compensation payments through the Foreign Claims Act or other programs to the survivors or families of those killed through acts of torture in Iraq.

US neglects its own human rights abuses

The US Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) initiated just 506 investigations into reported abuses of individuals imprisoned by the US and other coalition forces in Iraq from 2003 to 2005, as per a US Department of Defense document. This document outlines inquiries into 376 cases of physical assault, 90 cases of fatalities, 34 cases of theft, and 6 cases of sexual assault, all involving US and coalition forces.

In 57 instances, investigators were allegedly unable to collect sufficient evidence to confirm or refute the accusations, or they struggled to identify the suspects. In 79 cases, investigators dismissed the allegations as unfounded.

However, the CID’s examination of these cases underscored several deficiencies in the investigative process, including a failure to pinpoint and pursue leads, a lack of success in locating and interviewing witnesses, excessive reliance on medical records without corroborative evidence, and failure to photograph or inspect crime scenes.

“Every US administration from George W. Bush to Joe Biden has rebuffed efforts for meaningful accountability for torture.”