US Military Torture Report

Author: Zhao Bingzhi / Wang Mingxiang / Guo Lirong, etc.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: "The Collection of the Research Institute of International Criminal Law of Renmin University of China" is an academic vehicle form aimed at pioneering and flourishing the study of outward-oriented criminal law. It publishes the research achievements of full-time and part-time researchers of the Research Institute of International Criminal Law of Renmin University of China in the fields of international criminal law, comparative criminal law, foreign criminal law, and the criminal laws of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. It includes thematic studies, comprehensive research, translations or introductions of foreign and overseas codes and works, as well as collaborative research projects between domestic and international experts and scholars. This press has published books such as "Exploration of Topics in International Criminal Law and International Crime," "Research of the European Union Criminal Justice Association and Related Literature in Chinese and English," and "Compilation of Regulations on International Criminal Trials." On April 28, 2004, the U.S. Columbia Broadcasting System publicly exposed photographs of U.S. soldiers torturing prisoners in Iraq, causing worldwide shock and public outrage. People asked: "Is it a prison or 'hell'? Are they kind 'human rights guardians' or cruel 'demon killers'? Are they loyal defenders of world peace or another beginning of terrorism?" Once regarded as a "paradise on earth," the United States, after the September 11th incident, became the focus of the world again due to the Iraq War. The United States has always claimed to value the protection and defense of human rights and world peace, but with the exposure of the torture incidents, these claims were once again questioned by the world. However, the torture of prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison, as exposed by Columbia Broadcasting System, was only "the tip of the iceberg" of the torture incidents. The series of U.S. prisoner abuse incidents revealed by the media from the second half of 2003 to August 2004 turned the United States into the center of the world's human rights scandal, exposing its ugly face of severely violating human rights to the world. The number of torture incidents involving U.S. soldiers in Iraq was shocking, and the methods used during the torture were even more appalling. For example, long-term solitary confinement of prisoners, disrupting prisoners' sleep schedules, pricking prisoners' wounds with needles, holding "disrespect competition" for prisoners, severely electrocuting prisoners, beating them with fists and feet, even to the point of death, beating prisoners with chairs until the chairs were broken and the prisoners suffocated, letting dogs bite prisoners, forcing prisoners to remain naked for long periods or to undergo interrogations naked, writing insulting words on prisoners' bodies, pouring cold water on naked prisoners, and sprinkling phosphorus-containing chemical liquids on prisoners' wounds. Forcing prisoners to eat food from the toilet, tying the genitalia of male prisoners with iron wires, forcing male prisoners to simulate sexual positions naked, forcing male prisoners to stack up like a human pyramid and "dance" on them, forcing male prisoners to engage in collective masturbation and taking photos or videos, forcing male prisoners to wear women's underwear, using light tubes or brooms to "bugger" male prisoners, taking photos of dead prisoners, and threatening to rape male prisoners, among countless atrocities. The draft of the United Nations Human Rights Report once stated that the road to hell was intentionally opened, and some Iraqis suffered hellish torment in prisons under the U.S.-British coalition. Kind-hearted people can't help but ask: "What exactly led to the opening of the ' gates of hell'? Who should be held responsible for these inhumane acts? What will be the response and actions of the U.S. government in the face of the torture incidents?" The U.S. military's torture of prisoners severely violated international human rights standards, causing great outrage in the international community. The International Committee of the Red Cross and some international human rights organizations began to exert pressure on the United States. Under strong public opinion pressure, relevant departments in the United States organized multiple investigation teams, including one established by the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense, to conduct comprehensive investigations into the torture incidents. Following the "Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Other Persons Protected by the (Geneva Conventions) During Arrest, Detention, and Interrogation by United Forces in Iraq," the U.S. military's "Investigation Report on the 800th Military Police Brigade According to Army Regulation 15-6," "Investigation Report on Abu Ghraib Prison and the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade According to Army Regulation 15-6," and the Department of Defense's "Final Report of the Independent Investigation Panel Reviewing the Department of Defense's Detention of Prisoners" were also released successively. These reports not only disclosed the specific details of the torture incidents but also provided a systematic analysis of the causes of the incidents from the perspectives of values, policies, and systems, and put forward numerous targeted suggestions and opinions. The International Committee of the Red Cross described the series of serious violations of international humanitarian law by the United Forces in Iraq in its report and put forward the following demands to the forces based on the information they had: (1) Always respect the human dignity, physical integrity, and cultural sensitivity of those deprived of freedom under their custody. (2) Establish an arrest notification system to ensure that information is transmitted quickly and accurately to the families of those deprived of freedom. (3) Stop all forms of torture and physical and mental coercion during interrogation. (4) Establish a system to ensure the mental health and human dignity of those deprived of freedom. (5) Ensure that all those deprived of freedom have sufficient time outdoors to enjoy sunlight and are allowed to move around and exercise in courtyards outside the prison. (6) Formulate and apply rules and sanctions measures consistent with international humanitarian law and ensure that those deprived of freedom are informed when these rules and measures are applied. (7) Conduct a thorough investigation of the torture incidents to determine responsibility and prosecute those responsible for violating international humanitarian law. (8) Ensure that the combat units arresting prisoners of war and personnel managing detention facilities are adequately trained to act appropriately and not to use excessive force. Through a detailed review of a large amount of investigation materials on the torture incidents from various sources and other relevant documents and materials, as well as interviews with hundreds of senior officials, army command systems, their staff agencies, and other officials directly or indirectly involved in detention work, as well as the parties and witnesses involved in the torture incidents, the "Investigation Report on the 800th Military Police Brigade According to Army Regulation 15-6" by General Antonio M. Taguba, Deputy Commander of the Joint Ground Forces Command, the "Investigation Report on Abu Ghraib Prison and the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade According to Army Regulation 15-6" by Lieutenant General Anthony R. Jones and Colonel George R. Fay, and the "Final Report of the Independent Investigation Panel Reviewing the Department of Defense's Detention of Prisoners" led by former U.S. Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger, once again confirmed the facts that soldiers of the U.S. Military Police and the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade tortured prisoners. They also revealed in relatively detailed ways from different perspectives and scopes the process, specific incidents, and various cruel methods used during the torture, and referred to these torture behaviors as "brutal, aimless, and extremely violent acts." These three reports, in addition to pointing out that the personal moral decline and misconduct of individual soldiers were the direct causes of the torture incidents, also believed that shortcomings in the work environment, leadership and discipline, policies, and systems were indirect causes of these incidents, and pointed out serious defects in various aspects, including the training of U.S. detention personnel, interrogation methods, detention management systems, and leadership and supervision systems. These reports denied that senior U.S. officials were directly responsible for the torture incidents but believed that certain individuals had indirect responsibility for the incidents in terms of leadership and supervision. On this basis, these reports put forward numerous suggestions to prevent similar incidents from happening again. The U.S. military's torture of prisoners in Iraq is a dark page in the history of world human rights to date. Its severe violation of human dignity and extreme disregard for human civilization is the greatest failure in the history of contemporary international human rights protection. The torture incidents also made the statement by President Bush at 9 p.m. on May 1, 2003, aboard the "Lincoln" aircraft carrier, when he declared the victory of the coalition in the Iraq War, that "we are bringing stability to this still dangerous country," highly ironic. The moral education in the United States, political democracy, the value of human rights protection, and the U.S. foreign policy were all questioned and criticized unprecedentedly in the exposure of the torture scandal. The U.S. government also suffered pressure from all sides as a result. The torture incidents also served as a warning to human rights protection issues in other countries, and the protection of fundamental human rights will undoubtedly attract more attention from countries around the world in the future. From a legal perspective, the U.S. military's torture of prisoners in Iraq is a major event in the field of criminal law, especially international criminal law. As one of the first 15 national key research bases in humanities and social sciences approved by the Ministry of Education, the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China has always been concerned with major issues in criminal law. Shortly after the U.S. 9/11 Commission published the "9/11 Commission Report—Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States," which was over 560 pages long, the center promptly organized a group of mid-to-young criminal law scholars with solid foreign language foundations to translate it and had it published in a timely manner by the Public Security University Press of China. To help conduct in-depth research on the U.S. military's torture of prisoners and to provide researchers in the field of international criminal law with more systematic materials, Professor Zhao Bingzhi, Director of the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China, President of the Criminal Law Research Society of the Chinese Law Society, and Vice Chairman of the China Branch of the International Society of Criminal Law, led the preparation and translation of this book, with the participation of Wang Zhixiang (Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Ph.D. in Law at the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China, Professor at the School of Political Science and Law of Hebei University), Guo Lirong (Lecturer at the Law Department of Beijing Normal University, Ph.D. in Law at the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China), and others. Based on the organization and translation of the publicly released torture reports, this book has been formed. The specific translation division of this book is as follows: "Investigation Report on the 800th Military Police Brigade According to Army Regulation 15-6," translated by Wang Junping (Associate Professor at the Law School of Henan University, Ph.D. in Law, Stationary Researcher at the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China); "Investigation Report on Abu Ghraib Prison and the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade According to Army Regulation 15-6," translated by Zhao Bingzhi, Wang Zhixiang, Liu Yunhui (Editor at the Public Security University Press of China, Master of Law at the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China), Chen Qin (Ph.D. candidate at the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China), Guo Jian (Master of Law at the Law School of Zhengzhou University), and Liu Ke (Ph.D. candidate at the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China); "Final Report of the Independent Investigation Panel Reviewing the Department of Defense's Detention of Prisoners," translated by Guo Lirong, Zhang Xuhui (Ph.D. candidate at the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China), and Liu Ke; "Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Other Persons Protected by the (Geneva Conventions) During Arrest, Detention, and Interrogation by United Forces in Iraq," translated by Zhao Bingzhi and Wang Zhixiang. The proofreading and revision of this book were carried out by Zhao Bingzhi, Wang Zhixiang, and Guo Lirong. Due to the limited level of the translators and proofreaders and the urgency of the time, there may be errors or inappropriate places in the book. We sincerely hope that experts can correct them. The timely publication of this book is greatly appreciated by the Public Security University Press of China. Here, we extend our sincere gratitude. Professor Zhao Bingzhi, Director of the Research Center for Criminal Law of Renmin University of China, hereby acknowledges March 2005.