Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse

The Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal was a 2004 scandal after the torture of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison by US troops and CIA agents during the war against Saddam Hussein was exposed.

Authorization of torture
On May 22nd 2004, a memorandum was issued within the US military from an unidentified official referring to an Executive Order sanctioning the use of torture in prisons such as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Abu Ghraib, Iraq. Torture methods sanctioned included sleep deprivation, hooding prisoners, playing loud music, removing all detainees' clothing, forcing them to stand in so-called "stress positions", and setting dogs on them. An investigation by The Washington Post after the fact later confirmed that lieutenant general Ricardo Sánchez had authorized the use of sleep deprivation, burning or freezing, dogs and sensory deprivation on prisoners. Another investigation by the New Yorker later resulted in allegations that Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had authorized the use of torture, although this was never confirmed.

Instances of torture

 * The first recorded instance of torture in Abu Ghraib occurred in 2003 when prisoner Manadel al-Jamadi was reportedly stripped naked from the waist down and had a bag forced over his head before being interrogated by Thomas Pappas for the location of some alleged hidden weapons. He was tortured by being hanged by his wrists from a barred window, and eventually died under interrogation. Soldiers Sabrina Harman and Charles Graner later took selfies with al-Jamadi' s corpse, both of them giving the thumbs-up sign.
 * Several prisoners were forced to masturbate by soldiers such as Ivan Frederick.
 * One prisoner was allegedly sodomized with a chemical light and a broomstick.
 * Many prisoners were photographed being raped, sodomized, forced to perform oral sex on each other or otherwise sexually violated.

"They said we will make you wish to die and it will not happen ...They stripped me naked. One of them told me he would rape me. He drew a picture of a woman to my back and made me stand in shameful position holding my buttocks. "Do you pray to Allah?' one asked. I said yes. They said, '[Expletive] you. And [expletive] him.' One of them said, 'You are not getting out of here healthy, you are getting out of here handicapped. And he said to me, 'Are you married?' I said, 'Yes.' They said, 'If your wife saw you like this, she will be disappointed.' One of them said, 'But if I saw her now she would not be disappointed now because I would rape her.' " ...They ordered me to thank Jesus that I'm alive...I said to him, 'I believe in Allah.' So he said, 'But I believe in torture and I will torture you.""
 * Prisoner Ameen Saeed Al-Sheik stated that:


 * Former Abu Ghraib detainees testified that they were urinated on, beaten, burned with phosphoric acid and dragged through the prison with ropes attached to their legs or genitals.
 * A female guard reported that prisoners were executed for minor misdemeanours, and that she was allowed to use venomous snakes on detainees.
 * Several photos were taken of naked detainees being forced into human pyramid positions while Harman, Graner and Lynndie England watched.
 * A man was photographed handcuffed to a bed with urine-soaked underwear covering his face.