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Texas A&M professor Stjepan Mestrovic, stands before the Academic Building Friday afternoon. Mestrovic testified during the Abu Ghraib trials and wrote the book, 'The Trials of Abu Ghraib: An Expert Witness Account of Shame and Honor.'

Shame and Honor

Sociology professer says Abu Ghraib trial is a 'complex human story'

By: Travis Robinson

Posted: 9/11/07

Rape, abuse, homicide and torture were all among the accusations coming out of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Beating, sodomizing detainees with a metal baton and pouring phosphoric acid on detainees are just a few examples of the atrocities that, when heard by the American public, produced shock and utter disbelief.

"It's not a matter of who's to blame. The system was dysfunctional," said Stjepan Mestrovic, an expert witness for the defense and a Texas A&M professor of sociology. Mestrovic is an authority on the matter of Abu Ghraib: he holds three degrees from Harvard, he testified in three different Abu Ghraib trials and wrote the book "The Trials of Abu Ghraib: An Expert Witness Account of Shame and Honor." Mestrovic was asked by defense attorneys to testify because of his qualifications on sociology as well as previous experience with his testimony on the International Court of the Tribunal for Yugoslavia in the Hague.

Abu Ghraib was a prison in Iraq that held common criminals and enemy combatants alike. It was maintained and operated by four separate entities: the U.S. Army, CIA, Iraqi army and the Iraqi interim government.

Fifteen guards we're convicted with crimes that occurred at Abu Ghraib, but there we're countless other individuals who were present: lawyers, civilian contractors, medics, psychologists and doctors.

"It's a myth to just blame the soldiers; you have to look at the whole social system," Mestrovic said.

In other words, Mestrovic said the soldiers who committed the atrocities we're at fault, but there were myriad opportunities by others to speak up. And some did, he said.

However, those who did speak up we're told to shut up and watch out for their careers. The common response from superiors was, "You didn't see shit," Mestrovic said. This is where he believes the problem originated.

"There was no oversight. No one knew who was in charge, seriously. Command Responsibility was not followed," he said. Command Responsibility is a doctrine used for war crimes that states a commander is responsible for the actions of those he is commanding. Command Responsibility, developed in the early 1900s, has been used in World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War and countless other incidents, but not Abu Ghraib.

"When this was brought up in the trials, the judge simply wouldn't allow it," Mestrovic said. A military court marshal is very different from a civilian trial and the judge has the greatest power. "Instead, they said unlawful orders should be recognized by the low ranking soldiers. It just didn't make any sense," he said.

Neither Gen. Janice Karpinski, head of the prison system in Iraq, nor Col. Thomas Pappas, head of military personnal at Abu Ghraib, were held responsible for the actions of their subordinates. In fact, there was no higher authority telling the low ranking soldiers that what they were doing was wrong but there were orders coming from officers such as Pappas, to "soften up" the prisoners before interrogation, Mestrovic said.

"The word torture gives the idea of the soldiers getting up in the morning and saying, 'Who are we going to torture today?' Instead it was superior officers telling the soldiers that if they didn't do their jobs, that if they didn't get the information they needed, more Americans we're going to die."

The media painted an inaccurate and misconstrued picture of the whole scandal, Mestrovic said. "The media was obsessed with torture. The word torture was never even used in the trials. The reporters would come for an hour or two, leave before lunch, and sensationalize the whole story." A lot was missed, he said.

"These are complex human stories," ones not of just torture, or abuse as it was termed at trial, Mestrovic said. The soldiers we're under incredible stress. The prison was shelled by mortar rounds almost weekly by insurgents that the U.S. Army couldn't root out. The supply officer for the prison, Maj. David Dinenna, testified that it was a filthy place, filled with rat feces and toilets that didn't work. There was insufficient water, and the water that was brought was brought by gasoline tankers, making it unfit to drink.

While recognizing the necessity to be tough in the war on terror, International studies major Taylor Hawkins said, "We must be careful that in the process of investigating and prosecuting terrorists, we do not become the very monster we are fighting against."

In a recent book entitled the "The Lucifer Effect," Stanford psychology professor Phillip Zimbardo said Pappas, who received immunity for his testimony against the only officer convicted of wrongdoing in Abu Ghraib, may have had issues with his sanity. According Zimbardo, Pappas was one of several soldiers who, after losing a friend, in this case his driver and deputy, would take out his anger on the prisoners.

Corps Commander Nicholas Guillemette is certain that many cadets from Corps of Cadets will face such difficult situations. "However, the Corps prepares individuals for situations like this by stressing a respect for human liberties and rights, as well as placing a premium upon the sanctity of human life in general," he said.

"A war is not just a free for all. There are rules that have to be followed. They're going over there representing democracy," Mestrovic said.