Twenty years ago this weekend, the US TV news programme 60 Minutes II shocked the world with images of Iraqi men being abused and humiliated by their American jailers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. This scandal unfolded just 13 months after the United States-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq began. At the time, the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the chaos within the Iraqi state were still fresh in everyone’s minds. The revelation of this abuse quickly turned Abu Ghraib into a symbol of US imperialism and hypocrisy, tarnishing then-US President George W Bush’s claims of upholding human rights.
Fast forward to today, a civil case brought by Abu Ghraib victims against a US contractor involved in the prison’s operations is currently ongoing. The echoes of the Abu Ghraib scandal are being felt in current events, such as the ongoing US-backed military actions in the Gaza Strip, where many see parallels to the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
The images broadcast by 60 Minutes showed US guards subjecting Iraqi prisoners to various forms of violence, sexual assault, and humiliation. Many of these prisoners were innocent bystanders mistakenly detained by US forces. The haunting image of a hooded Iraqi man holding electrical wires became the defining image of the scandal.
Following the release of these images, the International Committee of the Red Cross published a report detailing further incidents of abuse at Abu Ghraib, including violations of the Geneva Conventions by US military personnel. Despite the convictions of some soldiers involved in the abuse, many Iraqis have yet to receive any form of redress or compensation for the torture they endured.
The parallels between the US abuse at Abu Ghraib and current events in Gaza have not gone unnoticed. The reports of Israeli soldiers mistreating detained Palestinians have drawn comparisons to the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib. The cycle of abuse and impunity continues to haunt the victims of these heinous acts, both in Iraq and Palestine.