The Unaccountables

Whilst looking into the veracity of claims made by CACI and Titan that none of their employees were ever charged with acting illegally during the scandal at Abu Ghraib, for actions that were highlighted in this film, I have come across some interesting facts.

In the Taguba report into incidents at Abu Ghraib it turns out that two civilian employees were named as persons "either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib".

I find that there is sufficient credible information to warrant an Inquiry UP Procedure 15, AR 381-10, US Army Intelligence Activities, be conducted to determine the extent of culpability of MI personnel, assigned to the 205th MI Brigade and the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center (JIDC) at Abu Ghraib (BCCF).

Specifically, I suspect that COL Thomas M. Pappas, LTC Steve L. Jordan, Mr. Steven Stephanowicz, and Mr. John Israel were either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) and strongly recommend immediate disciplinary action as described in the preceding paragraphs as well as the initiation of a Procedure 15 Inquiry to determine the full extent of their culpability.

In the case of Steven Stephanowicz, the Taguba Report found that he:

• Made a false statement to the investigation team regarding the locations of his interrogations, the activities during his interrogations, and his knowledge of abuses.

• Allowed and/or instructed MPs, who were not trained in interrogation techniques, to facilitate interrogations by “setting conditions” which were neither authorized and in accordance with applicable regulations/policy. He clearly knew his instructions equated to physical abuse.

In the case of John Israel, he was found to have:

Denied ever having seen interrogation processes in violation of the IROE, which is contrary to several witness statements.

This clearly raises the question of what exactly these civilian contractors are doing in Iraq. Especially as some of them are being used as interrogators, and - as civilian contractors - they do not come under the military code of conduct, and - as it’s not clear which laws can be applied to a non-military person who commits a crime on foreign soil - they are unlikely to be prosecuted in criminal courts in the United States.

Especially as:

Under a June 2003 order of the Coalition Provisional Authority, civilian contractors are protected from prosecution in Iraq for crimes committed as part of their official duties.

Therefore, these people appear to be operating with completely immunity from any laws.

Of course, this leads me to wonder if that's not the very point if civilian interrogators. The very fact that they are able to work outside of any law.

Earlier this year one of the civilian contractors went on record to challenge the notion put out by the Bush regime that the abuse at Abu Ghraib was the work of a few bad apples:

Despite my best efforts, I cannot ignore the mistakes I made at the interrogation facility in Fallujah. I failed to disobey a meritless order, I failed to protect a prisoner in my custody, and I failed to uphold the standards of human decency. Instead, I intimidated, degraded and humiliated a man who could not defend himself. I compromised my values. I will never forgive myself.

American authorities continue to insist that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was an isolated incident in an otherwise well-run detention system. That insistence, however, stands in sharp contrast to my own experiences as an interrogator in Iraq. I watched as detainees were forced to stand naked all night, shivering in their cold cells and pleading with their captors for help. Others were subjected to long periods of isolation in pitch-black rooms. Food and sleep deprivation were common, along with a variety of physical abuse, including punching and kicking. Aggressive, and in many ways abusive, techniques were used daily in Iraq, all in the name of acquiring the intelligence necessary to bring an end to the insurgency. The violence raging there today is evidence that those tactics never worked. My memories are evidence that those tactics were terribly wrong.

His contention is that this was official US policy, and I'm left wondering if that's why Bush and Rumsfeld employed civilians for such a task. Publicly, Bush and Rumsfeld could claim that the US Army did not engage in torture, knowing all the while that such work was being carried out by sub contractors, civilian contractors who were immune from almost any law.

That's a terrifying thought. It's also strange to note that civilian interrogators are also being used in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay. This represents a really large loophole the Bush administration have allowed themselves for evading military procedures.

I have Googled in an attempt to find of any prosecution faced by Stephanowicz or Israel, but can't find anything which states whether or not any action was ever taken against them.

Indeed, in this article into the subsequent Fay Report - which CACI are claiming exonerates Stephanowicz and it's other employees - it states:

No criminal charges have been filed against the six civilians cited by the Fay panel, which in August referred those cases to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. The Justice Department would not comment except to say the matter is not closed.

It should also be noted that others did not share CACI's reading of what the Fay report stated:

While the involvement of intelligence soldiers, as well as civilian contractors, was reportedly significantly greater than previously disclosed, many of the allegations had been described before, sometimes in less detail.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has any information of what happened regarding their prosecution. There's certainly nothing coming up on my radar.

Tags: Civilian contractors, Iraq war, Abu Ghraib, abuse, torture