Abu Ghraib
The city of Abu Ghraib (BGN/PCGN romanization: Abū Ghurayb; أبو غريب in Arabic) in the Anbar Governorate of Iraq is located 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of Baghdad's city center, or some 15 km northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has between 750,000 and 1.5 million inhabitants. The old road to Jordan passes through Abu Ghraib. The government of Iraq created the Abu-Ghraib district in 1944.
The placename has been translated as "father of little crows" (in the sense of "place abundant in small crows"), but this translation has been suspected of being an "eggcorn", and the name may be related to gharb "west" instead [1] (see also etymology of the word Arab).
Abu Ghraib was known for the Abu Ghraib Infant Formula Plant, which Western intelligence agencies perennially claimed to be a biological weapons production facility. The plant was built in 1980 and painted with a dappled camouflage pattern during the Iran-Iraq War. It was bombed during the Gulf War, and the Iraqi government allowed CNN reporter Peter Arnett to film the destroyed building along with a conspicuous hand-painted sign that read, "baby milk factory". Iraq partially rebuilt the facility afterward, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell cited it again as a weapons production plant in the run-up to the Iraq War. An examination of suspected weapons facilities by the Iraq Survey Group later determined that the plant, in disuse for some time, housed discarded infant formula, but found no evidence of weapons production.
The city is also the site of Abu Ghraib prison, which was one of the sites where political dissidents were incarcerated under former ruler Saddam Hussein. Many of these dissidents were executed. After Saddam Hussein's fall, the Abu Ghraib prison was used by American forces in Iraq. In 2003, Abu Ghraib prison earned international notoriety for allegations of torture and abuses by members of the United States Army Reserve during the post-invasion period.
REPORTING OF ABUSE
It was a minister's son who witnessed the abuse and reported it to authorities. Specialist Matthew Carl Wisdom at the time of the reporting was a 21 year-old military police officer serving with the 372nd Military Police Company. Officer Wisdom testified as a government witness at an Article 32 hearing in Iraq. The military proceeding equivalent to that of a grand jury investigation in civilian court. He testified that he reported what he saw to his superiors and believed that "the issue had been taken care of" [[2]]
His actions were in line with USSOUUTHCOM REPORTING PROCEDURES a copy of which is supposed to be given to every deployed service member. Those procedures involve what is referred to as "The Five Rs Of Human Rights". Recognize and look for human rights abuses taking place. Refrain from participating in the abuses even to the point of refusing orders. React to the abuse and make reasonable attempts to have it stopped. Record the incident including the circumstances surrounding the incident and the individuals involved. Report the incident to higher authorities. "Human rights include fundamental protections for individuals such as freedom from genocide, slavery, murder, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, prolonged arbitrary detention, and systematic racial discrimination." (USSOUTHCOM HUMAN RIGHTS STANDING ORDERS) ChaplainSvendsen 21:27, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
External links
33°18′N 44°2′E / 33.300°N 44.033°E
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