Salon.com > The Abu Ghraib Files

Introduction: The Abu Ghraib files

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:14:00 +0000

The human rights scandal now known as "Abu Ghraib" began its journey toward exposure on Jan. 13, 2004, when Spc. Joseph Darby handed over horrific images of detainee abuse to the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID). The next day, the Army launched a criminal investigation. Three and a half months later, CBS News and the New Yorker published photos and stories that introduced the world to devastating scenes of torture and suffering inside the decrepit prison in Iraq.

Today Salon presents an archive of 279 photos and 19 videos of Abu Ghraib abuse first gathered by the CID, along with information drawn from the CID's own timeline of the events depicted. As we reported Feb. 16, Salon's Mark Benjamin recently acquired extensive documentation of the CID investigation -- including this photo archive and timeline -- from a military source who spent time at Abu Ghraib and who is familiar with the Army probe.

“Standard operating procedure”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:13:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation.

These photos were taken using cameras owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr. and Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick II. Most of the photos depict detainees shackled naked in stress positions with women's underwear or hoods on their heads. In addition to the detainees, the pictures show Graner, Frederick, Spc. Megan Ambuhl, civilian contractor Adel Nakhla and a soldier the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) identifies as Sgt. Cathcart.

In the fall of 2003, the military police at Abu Ghraib systematically abused detainees using interrogation techniques similar to those once approved by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld -- forced nudity, stress positions, hooding and sleep deprivation, to name a few. Rumsfeld had approved harsh interrogation methods on Dec. 2, 2002, in a then classified memo for interrogators at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The memo was leaked to the media and eventually released by the White House in June 2004, sparking heated debate, domestically and internationally, about whether these tougher U.S. interrogation policies amounted to approval of torture and violation of international law.

“Dehumanization”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:12:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken with a camera owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr. They depict two major events of abuse: the leashing of a detainee referred to by U.S. soldiers as "Gus" and the punishment of three Iraqi detainees who had been accused of raping a 15-year-old boy in the prison. In addition to the detainees, the pictures show Graner, Pfc. Lynndie England, Spc. Megan Ambuhl, civilian contractor Adel Nakhla, Spc. Roman Krol, Spc. Armin J. Cruz Jr. and Spc. Sabrina Harman, as well as a soldier the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) identifies as Spc. Rivera, three soldiers the CID identifies as "possibly Smith, Davis K. and Cinzano" and one soldier the CID identifies as unknown.

Unlike the first set of photos, the abuses depicted on Oct. 24 and 25 have not been formally connected with specific orders from military leaders. Army investigators found that these incidents showed military police (M.P.) and military intelligence (M.I.) soldiers deciding on their own to punish and embarrass detainees. In his report, Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones categorized these abuses as "intentional violent or sexual abuses" that soldiers and contractors did not believe "were permitted by any policy."

“Sexual exploitation”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:11:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken using the camera owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr. They consist of a series of posed pictures of female detainees, including two detainees who were reportedly arrested on charges of prostitution, and one picture of a male detainee with his hands cuffed behind his back. One photo shows a female detainee exposing her breasts. In the first few photos, Spc. Sabrina Harman is shown posing with the female detainees.

Graner told the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID) in April 2005 that the guards at Abu Ghraib would sometimes allow female detainees to roam around in a common area at night. On the night of Oct. 28, 2003, Graner said he remembered taking multiple pictures of two young women, who were later identified by investigators as criminal detainees who had been arrested on suspicion of prostitution.

According to Graner's statement, two other soldiers, Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick II and a soldier Graner identified as military intelligence, were flirting with the girls. He said one of the women wanted to pose for several pictures. "I took the one, and then she called me back for another one," Graner said. "She pulled her top off." Graner said he gave a disk with the photographs to the person he said was from military intelligence.

“Electrical wires”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:10:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken using cameras owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr., Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick II and Spc. Sabrina Harman. They depict soldiers removing stitches from a detainee with a cut on his ear, a number of posed shots of the prison guards, including one in which Frederick urinates in a prison cell and two in which Harman wears women's underwear over her uniform, and the abuse of a detainee referred to by U.S. personnel as "Gilligan." In addition to the detainees, the pictures show Graner, Frederick, Harman, Spc. Megan Ambuhl, a soldier the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) identifies as Spc. Goodman and two soldiers the CID identifies as unknown.

One of the most iconic images of abuse to emerge from Abu Ghraib showed a detainee perched on top of a cardboard box, with a hood on his head, a blanket around his shoulders and electrical wires extending from his hands. To the soldiers at Abu Ghraib, this detainee was known as "Gilligan." In early November 2003 an agent from the Army's CID -- the same agency that would later investigate abuse at Abu Ghraib and assemble the evidence and timeline reproduced in this photo archive -- allegedly ordered military police to soften up the detainee by making his life "a living hell."

“Other government agencies”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:09:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken using cameras owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr., Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick II and Spc. Sabrina Harman. They depict a dead Iraqi detainee, Manadel al-Jamadi, whose body had been stored by CIA personnel overnight in a shower room at Abu Ghraib. Two of the photos show Graner and Harman posing with al-Jamadi's corpse.

On the night of Nov. 4, 2003, someone in the military intelligence wing at Abu Ghraib wrote an entry in the military police logbook: "Shift change normal relief 1 OGA in 1B shower not to be used until OGA is moved out."

In military lingo, OGA stands for "other government agency" and denotes clandestine operations conducted independent of the military chain of command. At Abu Ghraib, OGA referred "almost exclusively" to the Central Intelligence Agency, according to the investigation by Maj. Gen. George R. Fay. According to logbook entries, OGA detainees sometimes accounted for roughly one-fifth of the 30 to 50 inmates included in the daily head count in the military intelligence wing.

“Dog pile”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:08:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken using cameras owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr., Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick II and Spc. Sabrina Harman. They depict a long night of physical and sexual abuse of seven detainees accused of inciting a riot inside the prison. In addition to the detainees, the pictures show Graner, Frederick, Harman, Spc. Jeremy Sivits, Pfc. Lynndie England and a soldier CID identifies as unknown.

At approximately 7 p.m. on the night of Nov. 7, military police at Abu Ghraib noted in their logbook that a riot had broken out at Camp Ganci, a detainee facility that was part of the Abu Ghraib complex. In response, the military intelligence wing was put in a state of lockdown. Word filtered through that a detainee had managed to escape, according to the log. At 10:15 p.m., it was noted in the log that the military police had received "seven inmates from the Ganci Riot."

“Lacerations”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:07:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken using cameras owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr. and Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick II. They depict two instances of soldiers providing medical attention to detainees with cuts on their faces, and several detainees who are naked or hooded. One naked and hooded detainee is shown with a number written on his chest and smiley faces drawn on his nipples. In addition to the detainees, the pictures show Graner, Frederick, a soldier the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) identifies as Sgt. Wallin, a soldier the CID identifies as Spc. Christopherson, Spc. Megan Ambuhl, Pfc. Lynndie England, civilian contractor Adel Nakhla, a soldier the CID identifies as Sgt. Evans and several soldiers the CID identifies as unknown.

In addition to humiliation and abuse, the military police at Abu Ghraib photographed and documented detainee injuries. These photographs, which were taken partly as a boast and partly for official records, according to military police testimony, show two detainees with significant cuts on their faces.

“Working dogs”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:06:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken using cameras owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr. and Sgt. Ivan Frederick II, as well as a third camera whose owner is not identified by the Criminal Investigation Command (CID). They depict two incidents of detainees being confronted with military dogs, a detainee who has been bitten by a military dog and a detainee receiving medical attention from soldiers for his wounds. The photos also show a detainee who has apparently been shot in the buttocks using nonlethal ammunition. In addition to the detainees, the pictures show Graner; Frederick; Sgt. Michael Smith; Sgt. Santos Cardona; civilian contractor Adel Nakhla; Spc. Sabrina Harman; a soldier the CID identifies as Spc. Strothers; persons the CID identifies only as "Hofecker," "Richards," "S. Hubbard" and "Barhouti"; a soldier the CID identifies as Sgt. Cathcart; several soldiers the CID identifies as unknown; and at least one person the CID identifies as a member of the Iraqi police.

“Mentally deranged”

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:05:00 +0000

Warning: Photos contain disturbing images of violence, abuse and humiliation. These photos were taken using cameras owned by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr., Sgt. Ivan Frederick II and Spc. Sabrina Harman. They depict several incidents of unusual behavior by a single detainee, whom the soldiers described as mentally deranged. The detainee is shown harming himself, and being restrained and otherwise toyed with by guards. In addition to the detainee, the pictures show Graner, Frederick, Sgt. Javal S. Davis and civilian contractor Adel Nakhla.

In addition to "high value" intelligence targets, accused rioters and rapists, the military police at Abu Ghraib had to manage some mentally disturbed inmates, who had no apparent ties to any national security concern. The most prominent of these was a detainee named M-----, who was referred to by U.S. prison personnel as "Shitboy." Over the course of five weeks, he was photographed dozens of times in various humiliating and self-destructive situations. At several points, soldiers chose simply to take photographs and video of M----- harming himself, instead of stepping in to stop him. When the detainee was in restraints, Graner posed for photographs alongside him like a big-game hunter displaying a catch.