How the USA kill themself.

Berlinale - Film Festival. Berlin. February 2008. Standard Operating Procedure.
How many of you have actually forgotten?
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How many of you have actually forgotten the pictures that were seen on the television all over the world on April 28, 2004? The documentary Standard Operating Procedure by Errol Morris reminds us of the unbelievably cruel pictures from Abu Ghraib. It seems unbelievable that something like this can happen in modern society. Do human right laws mean anything at all? From the perspective of the government of The United States of America, they don’t.





Abu Ghraib – a symbol for torture.

The prison Abu Ghraib is situated in the west of Bagdad. It was built in the 1960s by British and western contractors and became legend under Saddam Hussein. Alone in 1984 Hussein executed a number of 4000 detainees in Abu Ghraib. The prison became a symbol of torture and executions.
With the invasion of the American and British troops in 2003, Americans took over the prison and used it to arrest Iraqis – men, women and even underage people.




Pictures say more than a million words

On April 28, 2004, CBS News published pictures and videos that were taken in Abu Ghraib. They show MPs (Military Police) torturing detainees, smiling, laughing and pointing at the victims. You seen naked bodies, dead bodes, blood, aggressive dogs intimidating detainees, hooded men with electrical shocks on their hands and even genitals and more. Detainees, as the US government calls them, have to live there in inhuman conditions and have to face inhuman questioning by the CIA using torture.

I was debating with myself whether I should actually post some of those pictures from Abu Ghraib or not. I decided not to. Firstly of course because they are not appropriate for a website with young kids. Secondly to me it is against the detainee’s dignity. From a different perspective though, it is also important to confront people with the injustice happening in this world.


�No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.� – Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

The United States of America do not just abuse the UDHR they also violate the Geneva Conventions that protect prisoners of war.

Case: Abdullah Mohammed Abdulrazzaq was tortured with electricity for three days in Adhimiya palace. He was tied naked to a chair and deprived for food and water until he collapsed. *





In speeches, President Bush always speaks of freedom and democracy. But he uses those terms without a real content. The United States, having been one of the most influential countries in terms of human rights and liberties, have changed their strategy. Since 9/11 they fight the “War against Terrorism� and claim to have a carte blanche to do whatever is needed to fight against terrorism. Jay Bybee from the US Department of Justice – and this is not a joke - said that the USA is excused from any international prescription of torture of prisoners of the war against terror. This just cannot be right.


Who takes the blame?

The government blames the soldiers seen in the pictures and those having taken them. The soldiers on the other hand blame the government. And really, it was not just the misbehavior of some soldiers, it was a systematic torture ordered from the highest US institutions. Documents prove that Rumsfeld ordered that cruel questioning methods should be carried to Iraq too. Also, NGOs have always warned the USA and accused them of torture. But the government never did anything against it.

The fact that the torture was ordered from higher institutions nevertheless does definitely not excuse the actions of the soldiers. Some of the them had to appear in court but only got little penalties, the longest being James Graner with 10 years. The only officer that had to go to court, Steve L. Jorden, did not have to go into jail. A lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld in Germany was not successful.


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The symbol of torture under Hussein became a symbol of torture under Bush. It is obvious that many Iraqis don’t see much of a difference between being ruled by a dictator or being ruled by a dictating force like the USA. Torture was there under Hussein, torture is there under Bush. This does not just damage the reputation of the United States, it also damages the reputation of the whole "western world".

Abu Ghraib is just one example of American Torture. US soldiers are now not in charge of the prison anymore. Nevertheless, the same still happens in Guantánamo Bay, Afghanistan and other places. And it has to stop.



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* Rajiva, Lila (2005): The language of empire: Abu Ghraib and the American media. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.