Prisoner Treatment: Fair of Foul?

On July 27, 1949, the Geneva Convention was finally revised to safeguard

the rights of all who were involved in war, including prisoners. According to

Convention III, "The following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time in

any place to prisoners of war: violence to life and person, in particular mutilation,

cruel treatment and torture, outrages upon personal dignity, humiliating, and

degrading treatment." (Convention III) However, despite this international law,

reports of torture and brutal conditions in prisons are constantly flowing in from

the conflict in Iraq. According to The New York Times,

"In December of 2002, Mr. Rumsfeld authorized hooding prisoners,

using dogs to terrify them, forcing them into stress positions, stripping

them, and isolating them. All this was prohibited by the Geneva

Conventions but President Bush declared on February 7, 2002, the

Geneva Conventions did not apply to Al Qaeda." ("For Abu Ghraib")

It is through this behavior that the U.S. is separating itself from the civilized

world. The Geneva Conventions should apply to all circumstances of war and

therefore stop the horrific acts that are taking place in Iraq today.

A prime example of the torture that is taking place today would be the Abu

Ghraib prison scandal. Numerous investigations have taken place and proved

that American soldiers hid prisoners from the Red Cross and mistreated them.

One soldier, Captain Ian Fishback, testified to witnessing the abuses in the

prison. "There were freaking horrible things people were doing. I saw detainees

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get their feet smashed in with hammers. Others were forced to sit on exhaust

pipes, they had their fingernails pulled out, or they were given electric shocks.

Light torture included: sleep deprivation, isolation, stress positions, and

hypothermia," states Captain Fishback. (Hirsh) Even worse tortures have

included things such as scorching the body with an iron and knee-capping.

(Benoit)

Besides these everyday torture tactics, other extreme measures were

eventually brought about to make the prisoners talk. The biggest one being

dogs. According to a former officer at Abu Ghraib, "It was recommended to

him by the general who commanded the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo

Bay, Cuba to use dogs as an interrogation tactic" (Cho "Dogs"). The only catch

was that they were to remain muzzled when inside the interrogation. This rule

was obviously ignored when prisoners were soon reported to need stitches for

dog bites on their thighs. Several sodiers have since then testified to, " a game

to see who could get the most detainees to urinate on themselves using dogs"

(Cho "Allegations"). Other eye witnesses have also said that the dogs were used

to frighten children as young as ten years old (Cho "Allegations").

Due to many eyewitness testimonies, some of the soldiers that helped

commit these crimes have been brought to trial. They all face serious jail time

and dishonorable discharge, however, according to The New York Times, they

all also have "government lawyers finding ways to circumvent the Geneva

Conventions" ("For Abu Ghraib"). Isn't it funny that the soldiers are sweating it

out and hoping that their lawyer can prove that the "poisonous environment"

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they were in led them to do such things, however, no senior officers have been

charged. How can this be when they are the ones in charge, giving the orders,

and supervising? Yet, no matter what happens, the senior levels of rank are

overlooked. One Army Reserve, Lynndie England, received three years of

military prison after posing for a picture with a naked Iraqi prisoner on a dog

leash. (Cloud "Private") Private Charles A. Graner Jr., who was of higher

rank than England, ordered her to do it. She is in jail; he has been reduced

to a somewhat lower rank.

In December of 2002, Mr. Rumsfeld authorized many of the techniques

that were used in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Reports of the appalling events

in the prison started to surface and suddenly Rumsfeld needed to cover for

himself. On April 16, 2003, the list of extreme techniques