Congress
Congress' Preliminar y Response to the Abu Ghirab Prison Abuse: Room for Reform?
Alison Croessmann 0
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Follow this and additional works at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr Recommended Citation Alison Croessmann, Congress' Preliminary Response to the Abu Ghirab Prison Abuse: Room for Reform?, 71 Brook. L. Rev. (2005). Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr/vol71/iss2/7
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Article 7
Congress’ Preliminary Response to the
Abu Ghraib Prison Abuses
ROOM FOR REFORM?
I.
INTRODUCTION
On July 22, 2004, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ)
introduced
a
bill in
response
to
the
prisoner
abuses
photographed at the Abu Ghraib detention facility in Iraq.1
Divided into three parts, the bill directs the President to
require: (1) the
videotaping of interrogations
and “other
pertinent interactions” of detainees in the custody of the
United States armed forces as well as intelligence operatives
and contractors of the United States;2 (2) “unfettered access” to
detainees in the custody of the United States by members of
various international human rights organizations;3 and (3) the
developing of guidelines by the Judge Advocate General to
ensure
that the
required
videotaping
in
“section
1 is
1 H.R. 4951, 108th Cong. (2d Sess. 2004) [hereinafter Interrogation Bill].
Representative Holt reintroduced the Interrogation Bill to Congress on January 4,
2005, stating that “Congress failed to do [its] job, doggedly investigate how and why
[the Abu Ghraib prison] abuses occurred, and put in place new safeguards for
interrogations in U.S. military detention facilities . . . .” 151 CONG. REC. E15 (daily ed.
Jan. 4, 2005) (statement of Rep. Holt).
2 Specifically, the bill orders the President to act “[i]n accordance with the
Geneva Conventions of 1949, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment” and “the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the
Constitution of the United States” when implementing a specific videotaping plan.
Interrogation Bill, supra note 1, § 1(a). In addition, the bill also requires that
“[v]ideotapes shall be made available . . . to both prosecution and defense to the extent
they are material to any military or civilian criminal proceeding.” Id. § 1(b).
3 The
human rights organizations mentioned in the bill are The
International Federation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red
Crescent, The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and The United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. Id. § 2.
sufficiently expansive to prevent any abuse of detainees” that
violates “law binding on the United States, including
[international] treaties . . . .”4
Three formal reports evaluate the allegations of abuse
at Abu Ghraib.5 The Taguba Report, commissioned by the
United States Army and written by Major General Antonio
Taguba, has been available to the public since May 2, 2004,
despite the fact that it was initially marked SECRET/NO
FOREIGN DISSEMINATION.6 The Schlesinger Report,
researched and written by an independent panel commissioned
by the government, was released to the public on August 24,
2004.7 Finally, the Jones-Fay Army Report, commissioned by
the United States Army and compiled by Lieutenant General
Anthony R. Jones and Major General George R. Fay, was
declassified and released to the public on August 25, 2004.8
While the Taguba, Schlesinger, and Jones-Fay Reports
evaluate allegations of prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib
4 Id. § 3(a).
5 Although a series of reports address the instances of abuse at Abu Ghraib,
it appears that Representative Holt lends a tremendous amount of credence to three of
them. See 151 CONG. REC. E15, supra note 1 (stating that “[l]ast year, three reports
that were compiled by U.S. Army officers and the bipartisan investigative commission
appointed by U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld documented in horrifying detail the
egregious human rights abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib Prison . . . .”). From
Representative Holt’s description of these reports, it can be inferred that he was
referencing the Taguba Report, the Schlesinger Report and the Jones-Fay Report
discussed in greater detail above. Accordingly, this paper will refrain from engaging in
a lengthy discussion of additional released reports and instead rely on the
aforementioned three reports’ findings. For a list of Abu Ghraib investigative reports
completed or underway as of August 23 2004, see http://www.cbc.ca/
news/background/iraq/prisonabuse_inquiries.html (last visited Nov. 5, 2005) (follow
hyperlinks for specific reports).
6 ANTONIO M. TAGUBA, ARTICLE 15-6 INVESTIGATION OF THE 800TH MILITARY
POLICE BRIGADE 1 (2004) [hereinafter TAGUBA REPORT], available at
http://www.cbc.ca/news/b (...truncated)