Essay about The Human Right Violations at Abu Ghraib

In August of 2002, without consulting Congress, the Bush administration changed the definition of torture by military standards to allow for previously illegal interrogation techniques. (Inside Guantanamo) Bush lost a lot of respect from American citizens for doing this on his own instead of consulting Congress because it added a lot of suspicion that he was trying to hide something. The Pentagon organized the interrogation techniques into three categories. The first one included yelling and deception techniques and the second included sensory deprivation, isolation, stress positions, extensive interrogation, hooding, clothing removal, and the use of phobias. The third and most severe category included waterboarding and even death threats. (Greenberg 221) Bush wanted justice to be served to the men who planned and carried out the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He thought the families of the thousands killed that day deserved that justice. Soon after, President Bush sent 14 men to Guantanamo Bay so that justice could be served to them by the military commissions he had proposed. They were to be put under the custody of the CIA where they would get what Bush thought they deserved and thanks to the Bybee Memo, Bush had complete, unlimited power when it came to core war matters such as this. While constitutional, the actions of the Bush administration as he went behind Congress’s back and came up with a new definition for torture

Torture is known as the intentional infliction of either physical or psychological harm for the purpose of gaining something – typically information – from the subject for the benefit of the inflictor. Normal human morality would typically argue that this is a wrongful and horrendous act. On the contrary, to deal with the “war on terrorism” torture has begun to work its way towards being an accepted plan of action against terrorism targeting the United States. Terroristic acts perpetrate anger in individuals throughout the United States, so torture has migrated to being considered as a viable form of action through a blind eye. Suspect terrorists arguably have basic human rights and should not be put through such psychologically and physically damaging circumstances.

During the Iraq war that between 2003 and 2006, the united states army committed a series of human rights violations against prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison near Bagdad. The violations included murder, sexual and physical abuse, rape, torturer, sodomy, humiliating and dehumanizing prisoners. In 2004 the abuse that was carried out was exposed by the publication of images that were taken by the soldiers that carried out the violations. This paper will be looking at what social psychology can teach us about what happened at Abu Ghraib.

A plane just crashed into one of the World Trade Centers; a few minutes later a second plane hits the other tower. What happened to all of the other planned attacks on that very day and the days that followed? A special sect of law enforcement called the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prides itself with quickly tracking down some of the terrorists that were involved in the attacks and effectively questioning them using various interrogation tactics, one of which is torture. The CIA’s approach to torture after 9/11 using techniques such as water boarding has proven to save lives and prevent future tragedies in spite of common controversy. In times of crisis, water boarding acquires the essential lifesaving information in time sensitive

Our constitution is built upon the ideas of freedom and decency. After all, it was written after hundreds of years worth of tyranny both at home in England (at the time), and abroad. People were standing against oppression leveled against them from thousands of miles away (for example, the Boston Tea Party), and they were called traitors to the Crown. Today, if someone speaks out against the US and its oppression, or chooses to fight back, we call him an insurgent or a terrorist. It’s quite a twist. Our country was built upon the values laid out in the constitution, and any individual working in the name of the US is absolutely bound by these truths. There is nothing which permits a violation of this; no reason can be which excuses such

What happened at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq can only be described as war crimes. The torture of prisoners under American control includes being beaten, stripped, shocked, and starved of food among many other cruelties. In spite of the overwhelming proof of crimes, many of those involved were only charged with abuse of prisoners not of war crimes. Of those involved, only the lower to mid-level personnel were charged. The overseer of the prison, General Janis Karpinski, was only relieved of her command. Other top level personnel within the army were cleared of all wrongdoing.

On August 1, 2002, Justice Jay Bybee submitted the “Bybee Memo” or the ‘Torture Memo”, which describes the behavior that U.S. officials must exercise when interrogating outside of the continental U.S. as governed by the UN Convention Against Torture. Although this memo was rendered inoperable by the Bush Administration in 2004; for years, it gave license to American troops to inflict cruel amounts of pain, effectively “torture” upon their prisoners under the label of “coercive interrogation”. Michael Hatfield, a Professor at Texas Tech School of Law published

Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp is a United States Military Prison. The camp is used to secure some of the worlds most dangerous criminals. These inmates are being imprisoned without trial because of their horrific crimes. The majority of the people being held at Guantanamo Bay are being tortured because they play a vital part in information and leads for the US Military. If the detainees were to be released they wouldn't be in a facility as secure as Guantanamo Bay and could possibly be deported back to their country and go back to terrorism. Guantanamo Bay is an extremely secure place which we should keep for the select people that deserve to be there and we should continue torturing them until we get answers. This camp should not be removed because it is an important source for the US Military to find out what these men are really thinking and what they've been up to. I believe we should keep Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp open for the safety of our country and to put a stop to future terrorist attacks, etc.

Since -9/11, torture has been official US policy by George Bush at the highest levels of government. On September 17, 2001, George Bush signed a secret finding empowering CIA to "Capture, Kill, or Interrogate Al-Queda Leaders." (Lendman, 2008). It also authorized establishing a secret global facilities to detain and interrogate them without guidelines on proper treatment. In the same time, Bush approved a secret "high-value target list" of about two dozen names. He also gave CIA free reign to capture, kill and interrogate terrorists that were not on the list (Lendman, 2008). What is torture: (a) the intentional infliction of extreme physical pain or suffering on some non-consenting, defenseless person; (b) the intentional, substantial curtailment of the exercise of a person 's autonomy (achieved by means of (a)); (c) in general, undertaken for the purpose of breaking the victim 's will." We will discuss terrorism and torture, look at arguments for and against each practice, and ethically evaluate those arguments (Lendman, 2008)..

Detainees held in Guantanamo Bay Detention Center located in Cuba are not only potential terrorists, but are also potential threats to our country, families, and loved ones. Detainees have been stricken of their rights to due process and a fair trial in compliance to George Bush enacting the USA PATRIOT Act, after the September 11th bombings. Guantanamo bay should not be shut down, because the detention center allows us to prevent future attacks to the country, question and gain high value intelligence from terror suspects, and also the island naval base houses some of the most lethal terror threats to the United States.

In the United States, one of the major methods in obtaining crucial information has been through the use of Guantanamo Bay. While many have condemned of the torture that is believed to occur there, not only does Guantanamo Bay comply with national and international standards, but it also complies with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions (Meese 1) which states

Guantanamo Bay, which is a detention camp located in Cuba, is always a controversy human-right related topic. People always refer Guantanamo as one of the worst prison in the world. Many people believe that the Guantanamo violates human rights; the prisoners in Guantanamo are treated inhumanely comparing to the other prisons located in the United States. Some argue that U.S. should close Guantanamo while the other say it should remain open. The goal of this paper is to investigate how Guantanamo violates human right and why the United States government should close it. It will discuss some solutions to end torturing the detainees in Guantanamo. Furthermore, it will explain the difficulties of closing Guantanamo Bay and the underlying reasons behind it.

One figure of prisoner of war captures in Iraq by the US and UK forces are more than 5,300, and many still being captured today (Kelley). The treatment of these prisoners should follow strict guidelines of the proper treatment of the prison war. Many problems have occurred with the mistreatment of prisoners, especially in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Here is one account: “According to the U.S. Army, one Iraqi prisoner was told to stand on a box with his head covered, wires attached to his hands. He was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted.” (Abuse of Iraqi POWs by GIs Probed).

In 1949 the second Geneva Conventions were composed as a response to World War II, and the Holocaust, which caused mass extermination and detention of civilians. The convention was erected in order to prevent future harm to civilians and act as a form of protection during times of armed conflict by outlining the norms of conduct for countries during war time. According to the Geneva Conventions all forms of torture and cruel and degrading treatment that cause severe pain and/or physical and mental suffering are illegal under international law. Additionally, states must act to ensure that any form of torture not previously mentioned or defined that causes humiliation, inhumane treatment, degradation, or punishment is not committed against the detainees. In order to safeguard the ideals of the conventions, it is required that all military personnel be educated in the laws enacted. In the prisons of Abu Ghraib and Bagram, the chain of command began to fail as requests for treatment

The notion of “authorization” as permitting the existence of torture is apparent in the fact that though an individual may “theoretically, . . . [have] a choice” to refrain from such activity, “given the situational context . . . the concept of choice is not even present”; disobedience to the dictates of authority means “punishment, disgrace, humiliation, expulsion, or even death” (196). Therefore, one is freed from moral unease by the fact that he may feel trapped and unable to act against his superiors, as retaliation would be imminent. In some instances, as was demonstrated by