Essay about The Human Right Violations at Abu Ghraib

The Human Right Violations at Abu Ghraib In 1949, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War was created to prohibit immoral, cruel and degrading punishment toward prisoners during wartime. The United States ratified this covenant and became a member of the Geneva Conventions. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, a series of human abuses occurred from October through December of 2003 where American military personnel have conducted acts of brutality and immoral behavior toward Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. The inhumane â€Å"interrogation method† of the American military have clearly violated Article 2 and 4 of the Geneva Conventions. Article 2.2 states â€Å"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state†¦show more content†¦The responsibility of this failure is institutional as well as personal at higher levels. Abu Ghraib and the Root Causes of Abuse When President Bush declared the War on Terror after the incident of September 11, 2001, he was declaring a new kind of war on a different kind of enemy. The al-Qaeda terrorist group who were responsible for the destruction of World Trade Center is organized differently than any enemy that the U.S. has faced before. Since the terrorists were determined to target large numbers of American civilians, the Bush administration issued a memorandum which declared the Geneva Conventions cannot apply to unconventional combatants such as al-Qaeda, it states â€Å" I accept the legal conclusion of the Department of Justice and determine that none of the provisions of Geneva apply to our conflict with al Qaeda in Afghanistan or elsewhere through the world because; among other reasons al Qaeda is not a High Contracting Party to Geneva. (Bush 2002)† In 2002, the Office of Legal Counsel responded to the President’s request of exploring the question whether American officials have the right to use torture against suspected terrorists. Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee of the Office of Legal Counsel not only legalized the use of torture for U.S. officials but also defined torture in the narrowest way. He defines torture as inflicting physical pain, or any serious physical injury such as failure of organs or at the mostShow MoreRelatedWhat Can Social Psychology Teach Us About What Happened At Abu Ghraib? Essay1023 Words   |  5 Pagesabout what happened at Abu Ghraib? By Mandy Stead During the Iraq war that between 2003 and 2006, the united states army committed a series of human rights violations against prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison near Bagdad. The violations included murder, sexual and physical abuse, rape, torturer, sodomy, humiliating and dehumanizing prisoners. 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