THE WAR ON TERROR

Lynndie England
& Charles Graner
Prisoner Human Pyramid

(Abu Ghraib, Iraq, 2003-2004)

THE WAR ON TERROR

An estimated 151,000 to 1,033,000 Iraqis died in the first three to five years of conflict.

The Official Story

CHARLES GRANER

(Abu Ghraib Torture and Prisoner Abuse)

Charles A. Graner Jr. (born 1968) is an American convicted war criminal and former member of the U.S. Army reserve who was convicted of prisoner abuse in connection with the 2003–2004 Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. Graner, with other soldiers from his unit, the 372nd Military Police Company, were accused of allowing and inflicting sexual, physical, and psychological abuse on Iraqi prisoners of war in Abu Ghraib prison, a notorious prison in Baghdad during the United States’ occupation of Iraq.

Graner was convicted of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty, and maltreatment, as well as charges of assault, indecency, and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty of all charges on January 14, 2005, and sentenced to 10 years in prison, demotion to private, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of pay and allowances. Charges of adultery and obstruction of justice were dropped before trial. On August 6, 2011, Graner was released from the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas after serving 6+1⁄2 years of his ten-year sentence.

Abu Ghraib

In November 2003, Graner was awarded a commendation from the Army for serving as an MP in Iraq. Graner held the rank of specialist in the company during his tour of duty in Iraq.

Allegations

Thirteen prisoners were interviewed by military investigators after the abuse allegations emerged. Eight of them named Graner as one of the abusers, and the other five described a person fitting his description. The investigation report named Graner as a ringleader of the abuse.

One of the prisoners, Kasim Mehaddi Hilas, said that one day he asked Graner for the time so that he could pray. Graner handcuffed him to the bars of a cell window and left him there, feet dangling off the floor, for nearly five hours. On another occasion, Graner and other soldiers tied a prisoner to a bed and sodomized him with a phosphoric light while another soldier took photographs.

Another prisoner, Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh, said Graner forced him to stand on a food box, naked except for a blanket. Another soldier then put a bag over his head and electrodes on his fingers, toes and penis. The picture of this incident was one of the first pictures whose publication prompted the investigation. A third prisoner, Mohanded Juma Juma, said Graner often threw food into the toilets and told the prisoners to eat it.

Specialist Jeremy Sivits, a soldier who pleaded guilty to charges relating to the Abu Ghraib investigation, alleged that Graner once punched a prisoner in the head so hard that he lost consciousness.

Source: Wikipedia