Abu Ghraib

Case Study

By:

Tom Bordes
Patryk Czechowski
Rima Dauhare Dauhajre
Lucia Palomo Zavala
Long Tran
Ivanna Urbino Perez
Human Resources Management
Prof. Andiappan

CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................. 2
Situation and problem................................................................................. 3
Solutions ...................................................................................................... 4
Risks of implementation................................................................................................ 4
Analysis Method .......................................................................................... 5
Case study Questions ................................................................................... 7
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 8
Sources and refrence .................................................................................... 9

INTRODUCTION
In 2003, during the Iraq War, part of the United States Army (Military Police and Military
Intelligence) committed a series of violations to the human rights of the prisioners
detainees in the Abu Ghraib Prison located at 32 km west of Baghdad. Sexual, physical
and physicological abuse, torture, rape, sodomy and murder was documented in a series
of pictures tooked by the perpetratos, that came to light to the US government by accident,
and to the general public by reports published in late 2003 by Amnesty International and
the Associated Press.
The porpuse of this paper is to analyze this case with the perspective of a human resource
management, taking into consideration internal and external factors surrounding those
fatidic events. Analyze the dynamic of the group involve, how the type and lack of
leadership contributes to the situation and finally the recommendations and conclusions.

SITUATION AND PROBLEM

As mentioned this systemic and ilegal abuse of detainees was intentionally perpetrated by
several members of the military police guard force. Accordind to Bernadette Lynch and
based on the Schlesingers and Tagubas report many factor conspired to create these
event: (Lynch, n.d.)

The prison was seriously overcrowded: 7000 detainees.

The prison was under-resuorced, only 90 MP1 guard personel when at least 180
was the minimum required.

Untrained and unprepared personnel.

Uncoordinated flow of equipment and personnel.

Trainning was not an important issue despite the obvious needs.

No standarized interrogation process due to lack of trainning.

Not clear uniform standard for MPs.

Lack of discipline within the unit.

Lack of reviewing and feedback.

Insuffiency of specificity, implementation measures and a system of checks and

balances in the standard operating proceadures.

Neither the camp rules, the provisions of the Geneva Conventions nor the
responsabilities of the internee are posted in english or in the language of the
detainees at any of the detention facilities in the 800th MP Brigades area of
responsibility.

Not determine type of prisioneer per block/facilitie and not knowledge of the
correct trearment and procedure for each one.

Confusion of task and not well define roles, MIs2 were the ones trainned and in
charge of interrogations.

1
2

No clear delination of command responsabilities between the MPs an MIs.

Poor local leadership.

Military Police
Military Intelligence

SOLUTIONS

a. Establish a structured work plan and manage the possible changes in it.Including
roles, hierarchy, schedules, quantity of personnel, equipment flow and supply
chain, uniforms, etc.
b. Establish a clear manual of policies and standards.
c. Give the personnel regular supervision and training.
d. Take care of the physical conditions and hygiene of the facilities.
e. Increase the security system.
f. Establish a set of sanctions.
g. Monitoring that everyone is capable of their tasks and respect their role by tests
and monthly evaluations.
h. Establish a clear procedure for interrogations.
i. Have posters in every cell room with the rights and responsibilities of the
detainees and the Geneva Convention in at least 3 popular languages of the region.
j. Make regulars reunions and deliver monthly report to the situation for every
person on the high command chain.
RISKS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Its almost impossible to plan every situation in advance, if the plan is not well manage
and is not constantly revise and update, it can get useless and not suitable. Another risk
that can be face in this situation is the person assigned on charge of the group, it has to be
someone who is completely suitable for the task and has personal values. Because of the
nature of the army (obey orders) leadership is really necessary, but also really dangerous,
that is the reason why the leader is the person that needs to be more reviewed and have
constant feedback of his performance.

ANALYSIS METHOD
We decided that the best method to analyse this case study is the Seven S Model
1. Structure:

Military Intelligence

Military Police

2. Strategy:

Military police acting as prison guards setting the conditions to exploit

internees to respond to questions.

The Army moved ahead with Miller's strategy to team guards and
interrogators, an approach at odds with long-established military doctrine. But
commanders were slow to implement other aspects of Miller's plan that might
have helped prevent misconduct.

These leaders failed to properly discipline their soldiers. These leaders failed
to learn from prior mistakes and failed to provide continued mission-specific
training.

3. Skills:

Exhibiting the Do as I say, not as I do mentality.

Dishing out orders, policies, rules, goals, targets, reports, visions and
changes to force prisoners to do what they want it.

Bad leadership.

See their position in terms of privilege and power.

Lack of direction

Lack interpersonal skills

Don't develop others (interested for themselves, not others)

4. Staff:

Unethical

Untrained

Headquarters lacked adequate personnel and equipment.

Military police and military intelligence units at Abu Ghraib were severely
under-resourced.

Providing support to the coalition.

5. Style:

The leader was giving orders to the MP to torture the prisoners.

The leaders from units located at Abu Ghraib or with supervision over
Soldiers and units, failed to supervise subordinates or provide direct
oversight of this important mission.

MI Brigade Commander did not assign a specific subordinate unit to be

responsible for interrogations and did not ensure that a Military Intelligence
chain of command at Abu Ghraib was established.

The absence of effective leadership

Violent and sexual abuse incidents.

6. Share values

Unethical

Wanton

Sadistic nature

Malice

Disorganized

Dishonesty

Rebellious

Arrogance

7. System

Chaos.

Lack of specificity.

Lack of implementation measures.

System of checks and balances to ensure compliance.

No specific treatments to different kinds of detainees.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What role is played by group dynamics in the creation of horrific

humanitarian violations, such as the events that occurred at Abu Ghraib?
Schlesinger and Taguba reports argued that the horrific events occurring in Abu
Ghraib had less to do with group dynamics, but rather the unbelievably bad conditions
in the compound. However, if those conditions lead one person to commit those
humanitarian violations, it is very likely that others were influenced by the group
dynamics afterwards. One person or a small group of people committing a crime
without any punishment may have pushed the others to behave similarly.
2. How does the presence (or absence) of leadership affect group and team
functioning?
Leadership plays a main role in management of teams or groups. Basically, in the case
of Abu Ghraib, where an absence of leadership or very poor leadership can be
observed, it leads to chaos. Military Police members did whatever they felt like doing
and there was no one to punish them and regulate their actions. This behavior ended
up in development of many disrespectful situations, which could have been stopped
if they were leaders or proper authorities.
3. What are the main structural issues of the case, and how might they have
affected the events of Abu Ghraib?
a. Absence of leadership: lead to overwhelming disorganization and lack of
overseeing the military police members performing cruel acts.
b. Insufficient numbers of guards: there was barely half of men required on the
compound which resulted in chaotic deployment.
c. Incoordination of Military Police and Military Intelligence: both parties barely
knew their duties which lead to their poor execution.
d. Overwhelming number of detainees: created a mixture of people with different
crimes but same treatment. Also, it became impossible to deal with all of them.

4. What part did context play in the events of Abu Ghraib? What was the
impact of the greater societal and political climate at the time, and what was
the impact of the more direct context of the soldiers involved?
Due to the war between US and Iraq the tension between those two nationalities was
already huge. The fact that the prison was located near the war zone made the situation
even worse. The soldiers were most probably personally involved in torturing the
prisoners, because of events like 9/11 they were driven by hate and prejudice
towards Muslims. Also, their brutal actions at Abu Ghraib intensified the hate of Iraqis
towards Americans.
5. How might a more effective training and deployment regimen for personnel
assisted with better socialization of those at Abu Ghraib?
MIs and MPs were never clearly instructed on their roles and purposes, which
brought an overall confusion in the Abu Ghraib personnel. Nobody knew who was in
charge and the situation became even worse when they appointed the MI commander
as the person in charge of the prison and made him also responsible for supporting
the MPs. With the proper training and Military Police guards would have been more
disciplined, regulated, overseen, and even forced to work accordingly and properly to
the rules. They should had been instructed on the treatment for detainees.

CONCLUSION

Due to the nature of this case it is impossible just to think of a solution related only to
Human Resource Management, it is necessary to understand and analysis it more
deeply, taking into consideration ethics and human behavior. While investigating the
facts and circumstances related to this tragic event on human history, it was easy to
see that the problem was not only in the brigade in charge of the night shift of the
prison, it was a problem that came from a higher level in the command chain.
Every interview that the perpetrators gave, they all agreed that it was all right,
because everyone knows and act normally, we are just following orders. This case
sets a very good example of how people that work without a guidance and a
responsible leader can result, and how toxic environments and peer pressure can bring
the worst part of anyone to light.

SOURCES AND REFRENCE

Brockes, E. (2009, January 3). What happens in war happens. The Guardian . Retrieved
October 23, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/03/abughraib-lynndie-england-interview
Dawlatzai, J. (Director). (2013). Abu Ghraib Prison Documentary [Motion Picture].
Retrieved from http://youtu.be/fRZEvNnyqlA
Hersh, S. (2004, May 17). Chain of Command, How the Department of Defense
mishandled the disaster at Abu Ghraib. The New Yorker. Retrieved October 23,
2014, from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/17/chain-ofcommand-2?currentPage=all
Lynch, B. (n.d.). Abu Ghraib: who is to blame? In Unkown book (pp. 676-678).