Page 209 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

Doctrines of Media and State 199

Mosul, where detainees reportedly abused through practices such as sleep depri-
vation and physical assault, among other questionable behavior?' Evidence has
also revealed that mass detainment of Iraqis in attempts to find Saddam Hussein
and fight the "insurgency" was based upon questionable or non-existence evi-
dence. The Red Cross estimated that by 2004, as many as 70-90 percent of
detainees held in Iraq by the U.S. had been arrested "by mi~take,"~' meaning
there was a lack of sufficient evidence to hold them or charge them with any
crime. This estimate was similar in its projection to the conclusion of a report
filed by Maj. General Antonio Taguba, which found that about 60 percent of the
detainees at Abu Ghraib were not considered a security risk to the U.S. mili-
ta~y.~~
Hundreds were held at Abu Ghraib for extended periods, often without any
evidence that they posed a security risk, according to one army report released in
late 2003. As the New York Times reported: "some Iraqis had been held for sev-
eral months for nothing more than expressing 'displeasure or ill will' toward the
American occupying forces."94 Children have not been exempt from detention
either. An investigation by the Sunday Herald revealed that, in 2004, U.S. and
allied forces in Iraq were holding over one-hundred children in facilities like
Abu Ghraib, as some as young as ten claimed to have been raped and tortured?'
Human Rights Watch released similar documentation contending that "the
abuse of detainees by the Iraqi police and intelligence forces has become routine
and commonplace," as such practices as arresting suspects without warrants, and
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beatings of prisoners were said to be c~rnmon~lace.~~ this, contrary to the
rules and procedures encompassed in the Iraqi Code of Criminal Procedures,
which mandates that a defendant receive all the benefits of due process. Human
Rights Watch reported that physical punishment of detainees includes "use of
cables, metal rods, kicking, slapping, and punching.. .suspension from the wrists
and earlobes. . . electric shocks to the earlobes and genitals. . . [prisoners] re-
ceiving little or no food or water for several days.. . [and] overcrowded cells," to
name a few of the violations of prisoners' rights. Extortion is listed as a particu-
larly large problem, as those who can afford to pay prison guards are reportedly
set free, while others who cannot afford these bribes are denied access to legal
defense.
2005 and 2006 were also important years for other revelations of U.S. abuse
of detainees in the "War on Terror." James Risen, reporter for the New York
Times and author of State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush
Administration, reported on secret CIA detainment facilities where terrorist sus-
pects are held. Risen explained: "Several CIA officials who are familiar with the
way the interrogations of high value A1 Qaeda detainees are actually conducted
say that there are no doubts in their minds that the CIA is torturing prisoners."97
Zaki Chehab, an editor for A1 Hayat and author of Inside the Resistance: The
Iraqi Insurgency and the Future of the Middle East, attributes U.S. treatment of
detainees with growing resistance against the U.S. Through his reporting and
research, Chehab uncovered evidence of serious human rights violations on the
part of the U.S., such as the raping of Iraqi women in U.S. custody.98 One
woman was reportedly raped seventeen times in one day by Iraqi police forces,