The Fay Report, officially titled ''Investigation of Intelligence Activities at Abu Ghraib'', was a military investigation into the
torture and abuse of prisoners at the
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. It was sparked by leaked images of Iraqi prisoners, hooded and naked, being mistreated obtained by the United States and global media in April 2004.
The Fay Report was one of five such investigations ordered by the military and was the third to be submitted, as it was completed and released on August 25, 2004.
Prior to the report's release, seven reservist military police had already been charged for their roles in the abuse at the prison, and so the report examined the role of military intelligence, specifically the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade that was responsible for the interrogation of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
General
Paul J. Kern
Paul John Kern (born June 16, 1945) is a retired United States Army general and businessman. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army Materiel Command from October 2001 to November 2004. He became President and Chief Operating ...
was the appointing authority for the report and oversaw the investigation. The chief investigators were Major General
George Fay
George Fay, while an officer in the United States Army, was the lead author of an investigation into the scandal at Abu Ghraib, more commonly known as the Fay Report.
In June 2004, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez requested to be removed from ...
, whom the report is named after, and Lieutenant General
Anthony R. Jones
Anthony Ray Jones (born July 10, 1948) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as acting commander of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Early life
A native of Washington, Indiana, Jones graduated from ...
.
The Fay Report noted that "contracting-related issues contributed to the problems at Abu Ghraib prison". General Fay also wrote that "The general policy of not contracting for intelligence functions and services was designed in part to avoid many of the problems that eventually developed at Abu Ghraib...". The report identified lack of contractor oversight as a cause of both the insufficient training that contractors received and inadequate contract management. While over half the interrogators at the prison were employees of
Caci International
CACI International Inc. (originally California Analysis Center, Inc., then Consolidated Analysis Center, Inc.) is an American multinational professional services and information technology company headquartered in Northern Virginia. CACI prov ...
, up to 35% lacked any formal military interrogation training. Questions have also been raised about whether CACI's background checks on prospective employees were adequate. In addition to questions about contractors qualifications, the report also notes that military personnel were ill-prepared for the tasks of contract administration, monitoring and oversight.
The Fay Report implicated 27 members of the
205th Military Intelligence Brigade in the abuse, including four civilian contractors and an additional three military police to the seven previously charged.
Eight members were also cited for not reporting the mistreatment.
Colonel
Thomas M. Pappas, who was commander and the top military intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, along with four lower-ranking officers were subject to possible criminal charges as well as administrative action and another four officers ranking higher than colonel.
The report "revealed disturbing facts" of the cited forty-four cases of abuse, with General Kern going as far to call some of these abuses torture.
One example of such mistreatment cited in the report was a 'game' where guards and interrogators competed with dogs to see who could make naked teenage prisoners defecate out of fear first.
In addition to the abuse, the report cited at least eight cases of
ghost detainee
Ghost detainee is a term used in the executive branch of the United States government to designate a person held in a detention center, whose identity has been hidden by keeping them unregistered and therefore anonymous.[International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signa ...]
and other human rights groups.
General Kern acknowledged there could be more than a dozen cases, and other reports later confirmed there could have been more than 100, bringing forth media questions about the role of the CIA at the prison.
The report concluded that higher-ranking officials such as Lieutenant General
Ricardo Sanchez
Ricardo Sanchez (born September 9, 1953) is a former lieutenant general in the United States Army. His career was most notable for his service as commander of Multi-National Force – Iraq and V Corps.
Early life and education
Sánchez was bo ...
, the top US commander in Iraq, and Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and a ...
, as well as Pentagon and Justice Department officials were not culpable but bore responsibility for creating conditions that led to the abuse and recommended further investigation.
These conditions included commanders being under-prepared for the mass influx of prisoners, poor leadership and discipline, unclear directives, and a lack of troops, and questioned how only lower-ranking personnel were solely responsible for some of the 'torture methods' carried out.
See also
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Carolyn Wood
Carolyn Wood, United States Army captain, is a military intelligence officer who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was implicated by the Fay Report to have "failed" in several aspects of her command regarding her oversight of interrogato ...
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Church Report
The Church report on detainee interrogation and incarceration (officially ''Review of Department of Defense Detention Operations and Detainee Interrogation Techniques'') is a report completed under the direction of Vice Admiral Albert T. Church, ...
*
Ryder Report
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Taguba Report
The Taguba Report, officially titled ''US Army 15-6 Report of Abuse of Prisoners in Iraq'', is a report published in May 2004 containing the findings from an official military inquiry into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse. It is named after Major Gene ...
*
Formica Report
''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the family (biology), family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type specie ...
References
External links
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{{WoTPrisoners, state=collapsed
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Reports of the United States government