Humiliation and How it Plays Out
Dear All,
Often I am asked how humiliation is played out, in reality. Currently, the pictures we see on all media channels on the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, provide ample material.
Linda Hartling forwarded to me the text you see further down. Thank you dear Linda! (Clearly, this is but one article among the innumerable texts that flood the media at present.)
Yesterday, I watched Major General Antonio Taguba testifying before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. The discussion reminded me of how important it is that we develop a feeling for "we, humankind," who has a collective responsibility to refrain from humiliating acts. We should not get caught up in counting up atrocities against atrocities (...but were not Saddam's acts of humiliation worse....).
I think I speak for our entire group when I say that we want to promote a DECENT GLOBAL VILLAGE, wherein we ALL feel as ONE SINGLE INGROUP, as ONE SINGLE FAMILY of humankind, and where we ALL share the responsibility to provide the opportunity to live dignified lives without humiliation to ALL. We need to create a world where potential tyrants, oppressors, abusers and bullies of any background and strategy fail to find support and fertile ground.
Our group is currently thinking through how to address the Iraq situation, triggered by media interest in our work. My main fear is that the pictures we get from Iraq contribute to a fragmentation of our global village into several blocks, that engage in cycles of mutual humiliation and humiliation-for-humiliation. I fear for the human family to be torn apart by processes of humiliation, similar to the sad situation the Middle East finds itself in today.
Evelin
CBS Airs Alleged GIs Abuse of Iraqis
By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer
April 29, 2004, 10:50 AM CDT
NEW YORK -- One photograph shows Iraqi prisoners, naked except for hoods
covering their heads, stacked in a human pyramid, one with a slur written
in English on his skin. That and other scenes of humiliation at the hands
of U.S. military police that appear in photographs obtained by CBS News
have led to criminal charges against six American soldiers.
The images were shown Wednesday night on "60 Minutes II."
CBS says they were taken late last year at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad,
where American soldiers were holding hundreds of prisoners captured during
the invasion and occupation of Iraq. At least one of the six is also a
prison guard in civilian life.
In March, the U.S. Army announced that six members of the 800th Military
Police Brigade faced court martial for allegedly abusing about 20
prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The charges included dereliction of duty, cruelty
and maltreatment, assault and indecent acts with another person.
In addition to those criminal charges, the military has recommended
disciplinary action against seven U.S. officers who helped run the prison,
including Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski, the commander of the 800th Brigade,
a senior military official said Wednesday in Baghdad.
The investigation recommended administrative action against several of the
commanders, which could include punishments up to relieving them of their
commands, said the official, speaking on condition on anonymity.
When the abuse charges were first announced, U.S. military officials
declined to provide details about the evidence. But on Wednesday, at a
news briefing in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the investigation
began in January when an American soldier reported the abuse and turned
over evidence that included photographs.
"That soldier said, 'There are some things going on here that I can't live
with,'" said Kimmitt, who also confirmed that CBS had obtained the
photographs.
One picture shows an Iraqi prisoner who was told to stand on a box with
his head covered and wires attached to his hands. CBS said the prisoner
was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted. Other
photos showed naked prisoners being forced to simulate sex acts.
The Army ordered an investigation into the actions of 17 soldiers from the
800th Brigade, which is based in Uniondale, N.Y. Ten were investigated for
criminal actions, six of whom were charged in March.
The other seven were officers who faced an administrative investigation.
Those officers have received copies of the probe and will now have the
chance to rebut the claims, with a final decision expected within a month,
the senior military official said.
In an interview with CBS correspondent Dan Rather, Kimmitt said the
photographs were dismaying.
"We're appalled," Kimmitt said. "These are our fellow soldiers, these are
the people we work with every day, they represent us, they wear the same
uniform as us, and they let their fellow soldiers down."
"If we can't hold ourselves up as an example of how to treat people with
dignity and respect, we can't ask that other nations do that to our
soldiers," Kimmitt said.
"60 Minutes II" identified one of the implicated soldiers as Army Reserve
Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick, who described to Rather what he saw in the
Iraqi prison.
"We had no support, no training whatsoever, and I kept asking my chain of
command for certain things, rules and regulations, and it just wasn't
happening," Frederick said.
Frederick was a corrections officer at the Buckingham Correctional Center
in Dillwyn, Va., until he was called up for active duty, said Larry
Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Corrections Department.
He is a member of the 372nd Military Police Company based in Cumberland,
Md., said Maj. Greg Yesko, public affairs officer for the 99th Regional
Readiness Command. The 800th Brigade includes the 372nd Company, Yesko
said.
No phone listing for Frederick could be immediately located.
"60 Minutes II" reported Frederick will plead not guilty to charges
including maltreatment and assault, claiming the way the Army operated the
prison led to the abuse of prisoners. He also said he did not see a copy
of the Geneva Convention rules for handling prisoners of war until after
he was charged, the show reported.
The show also quoted from an e-mail which Frederick reportedly sent to his
family in which he said of Iraqi prisoners: "We've had a very high rate
with our styles of getting them to break; they usually end up breaking
within hours."
Former Iraqi prisoners told The Associated Press last November of
mistreatment in detention, including beatings and punishments that
included hours of lying bound in the sun.
Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, said in March
that many former detainees in Iraq claimed to have been tortured and
ill-treated by coalition troops during interrogation.
Methods often reported, it said, included prolonged sleep deprivation,
beatings, exposure to loud music and prolonged periods of being covered by
a hood.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Associated Press
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