I pulled guard in Iraq several times in the Detainee Complex we built. I can’t recall any incidents of intentional abuse, but rather administrative neglect on non-specified issues (at least issues never specified to us, might of got lost in the chain of command)
It’s been bothering my for a few years, and have been looking at Prisoners Right of Access to the Courts rulings in the US. I do not think, in a combat base that it would be appropriate or rational to insert these rulings in American Civil Law to freshly detained combatants in a battle theater, but a better measure than what was provided can do for a more streamlined and humanistic outlook in dealing with detainees who haven’t even been judged in any court, civil or military.
In Iraq, it was practice that detainees had 48 hours from being deposited into the detainment center to be sent to a higher authority to be prosecuted (either the US or Iraqi) or released. The burden of proof of complicity was stupid low, in either case, oftentimes merely photographing the detainee with a weapons cache or the weapon they fired, which is embarrassingly low in my book standards wise, but on the other hand if you jack the standards higher, soldiers won’t try as hard to capture someone alive, if they had been attacked by them, preferring just to shoot them… which is a obvious and not so unjustified alternative, so for now, until battlefield video recordings become more prevelant, as they are predicted to be in the Land-Warrior System, I don’t have any realistic suggestions… better to be jailed, even unjustly in rare circumstance, than shot.
My concerns deal more with hygiene and communication issues, and lack of supervision by paralegals, as well as a seperate chain of communications guards watching detainees can reference unusual suspicions or pleads to.
- Sometimes Platoons bring back guys who clearly are NOT the person they are claiming them to be, and give shitheaded excuses for grabbing them.
I had to watch a platoon process who, if I recall correctly, as a gentle school teacher, who’s Iraqi ID had his baby’s picture on it, and who stayed up all night and the next night snobbing like a baby. Why was he detained? It was his cousin who was a insurgent- they couldn’t find him, and sense the Iraqis were tribally centered instead of motivationally, it was just as good! I didn’t know what to do, the staff Sargent officially in command telled at the platoon, and our interpreter, a long haired hippie from Lebanon, was as freaked out as we were. Between me and the interpreter, it was agreed he would talk to the commander, as I was a lower enlisted man and at that time (but not later on) was shy in approaching them.
- Reasonable Hygiene
I don’t expect people detained for two days to get showers, especially if the soldiers guarding them go stretches longer, but everyone has to piss and shit. Even if clearly guilty, if we’re bothering to keep them alive, they gotta be allowed to shit under realistic conditions, not some filthy sweat box breeding unheard of plagues.
Due to security concerns, its deeply unwise to lead detainees outside of the fenced area, unlocking the gate as we go, due to escape issues on the outside, and lack security within the detainee area. But when you have the latrine inside, waste crews can’t get inside unless they have access, and they crews are civilian, in our bases case Romanian, and though highly valued and trusted, were not given keys- due to security risks, to the detainment center.
I do not advocate giving them keys, but a compliant schedule on FOBs lucky enough to have these crews needs to be established so they know when to meet the guards at the fence, be let in, to suck that shit out and squirt the stinch hole down. That stink is ungodly, and if within ten feet always made me gag.
I would have to stalk the fuckers, watching them move around from the hill I was on, until they got near to block their path and scrub it. This was brought up a few times with command, they admitted it was a problem, nothing ever done… The only times in the whole war that thing was cleaned was when I forced it.
It’s obvious under hypothetical circumstances when someone is detained that even the soldiers might not have suitable waste facilities or shelters themselves, or a way to clean the detainee after they relief themselves… toilet paper on short supply or non-existent, and water very very precious. It sucks, but what are you going to do. However, under circumstances where a position is more established, after very basic survival needs are taken care of, detainees need access to at the very least field manual type Latine dug or constructed. The first act of Operation Desert Shield, when troops started landing in Saudi Arabia, was not shelter but latrines.
- Pictorial Guide provided to each detainee underlining
A) Prevelant Medical Issues
A medical issue could be pointing to a picture of a doctor removing a bullet, or another of fixing a bone, or of a sick man pooping or having breathing issues
B) They Need Food or Water
C) They want a blanket
D) They Want to Talk to Interrogator
E) They are being harassed or threatened by person in next Cell
It’s important to have non-lingual cards to express their desires, as a invasion can happen mere hours after a attack on the US, and detainees start pouring in soon after. You literally can’t predict what countries the military will be operating in the future, nor its literacy level of its detainees. However, once in theater, more discriptive information in their language should be applied to a picture text.
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Shoes
Yeah, I understand the wisdom of taking detainees without shoes, less likely to escape, but unless your planning on dropping them off when released, shoes that realistically fit need to be provided, if its raining a umbrella or well constructed hat, or if a harsh winter climate winter weather gear, enough to keep them alive, needs to be given. I gave up my shoes I was planning to use on my leave to a detainee when he was released. A third world country has many hazards on its ground, and there usually isn’t a goodwill or a phone booth nearby to solve this delimma. -
Limit numbers on US Troops allowed in a detainment center when dropping detainees off, enforced by someone a officer rank higher that the highest ranking officer or non commissioned officer delivering the detainees.
Happened only once, and in some sense my fault for letting it get our of hand, but half a platoon shouldn’t be allowed to escort a detainee in. They arrive adrenaline pumping, the detainee might of tried to kill them, and the soldiers clearly don’t like them, pacing back and forth, emotionally making a scene in front of the other unrelated detainees. I understand evidence needs to be carried in, and their only concern is getting through with this last aspect of a long mission so they can shower and go back to eat or rest… but it’s uncalled for. It gets everyone currently caged riled up, confused… it’s a place where you want people calm and vegetated, especially if its a poorly put together detainment center that couldn’t realistically keep them in if they all decided to lift their cages up and rush out (as ours were).
- Allow the guards to put their magazines in their weapons, especially when escorting a detainee to a Latrine.
This is a counter-intuitive ‘right’ but is necessary for discouraging opportunistic resistance. Many detainees know what a rifle is, how it functions, and know that when guards don’t have magazines in their rifles, they are essentially unarmed. Insurgents pick up on this sort of stuff. So yeah, for limiting their opportunities to attack us, let us be properly armed, fuck that Guantanamo Liberalism stuff, mags in the weapon. It helps their long term survival and rehabilitation, and perhaps eventual release if they are not tempted in rushing and killing the guards in a otherwise improbable escape.
- Don’t put narcoleptics on night detainee guard, and if you do, don’t let them have giant Bowie knives strapped to their assault packs.
You get two guards on average in these facilities, and our narcoleptic got put on it all the time. Whenever I got put on with him, I couldn’t keep him awake no matter what, nor could get him to ditch that stupid knife. Everytime I walked a detainee out to shit, I was certain they would roll under their cage and slit his throat, then wait for me at the door. See rule number 6 for details why this is a bad idea. It’s a absurd sounding rule, but could only arise from real experience. Don’t let stupid shit like that happen again in the future… it’s fun and cool to have durkhas and Bowie knives or tomahawks strapped to you in combat… and lone battalions don’t care to regulate this, and I myself don’t care to see it regulated, save for within the detainee centers.
I need to note, these recommendations are for the initial detainee centers, and not long term centralize facilities, nor the morality or knowingly transferring detainees to corrupt or cruel allied facilities, such as the then (and likely still now) Iraqi Police Facilities. I have views, but they don’t extend realistically to what lower ranking guards in these foreward bases are responsible for.
I never saw a case of obvious creulity, nor torture. We could of used better educated interrogators, someone with at least a Four Year College Education, as one of the interrogators was dumb as fuck and could embarrass the detainee, interpreter, and guard watching the prisoner with overly retarded questions, but that’s a intel failure and not a prisoners rights issue.
These are proposed rights, and do not believe they are a actuality. I posted them here to be commented on by all, picked up by reporters, or looked over by interested officers in the US or even foreign military, seeing little to no national security issues within reason disclosed.
