Preventing
Another Abu Ghraib - Detention Camp Liaison
by U.S. Army Master Sgt. Michel
Sauret May 31, 2018
The U.S. Army has five military police units that specialize in
detention camp liaison, but very few know what that even means.
Their purpose is to prevent one of the most horrific prison
incidents in U.S. Army history from happening again ... Abu Ghraib,
in which Iraqi prisoners were tortured, abused and photographed in
humiliating fashion. The ghastly images from inside that prison made
their way around the world in 2004. Shortly after, these liaison
detachments were created to assess military prisons worldwide,
partnering host nations with U.S. forces. And yet, in more than a
decade since their inception, not many people know they even exist.
“We don’t validate (prisons). We don’t inspect. We assess,” said
Master Sgt. Glenn Glasgow, a senior advisor for the 418th Military
Police Detachment, headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
Their
assessment includes reviewing everything from a facility’s security
protocols to looking at the medical care provided to inmates, food
quality and hygiene standards. In a deployed environment, they
assess overseas prisons run and operated by the host nation. Then
they brief their findings to the battle-space commander – usually a
U.S. military commanding general at a division or corps level – with
recommendations and actions on how to improve detention camps under
their watch. In short, they ensure those centers comply with Geneva
Convention standards.
“If (military detention camps) are not
being run properly, then you open the door for abuse. Especially
when you’re looking at non-U.S. facilities,” said Daniel Michael,
who is a training officer for military prison staff at the U.S.
Naval Brig in Charleston, South Carolina.
Throughout the
months of February and March 2018, five liaison detachments visited
the U.S. Naval Brig Charleston to see “what right looks like,” and
use it to develop their own assessment process in case of an
overseas deployment.
U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from the 418th Military Police Detachment
(Detention Camp Liaison), headquartered in Orlando, Florida, receive
a tour of the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South
Carolina, March 5, 2018. The 418th is one of five detention camp
liaison detachments across the Army with the mission of assessing
overseas prisons and detention camps managed by allied host nations.
The Naval Brig in Charleston is an accredited military prison that
meets every standard required by the Geneva Convention, giving the
military police liaison unit a base to assess other detention
centers around the world in partnering nations. (Image created by
USA Patriotism! from photos by U.S. Army Reserve Master Sgt. Michel
Sauret and the U.S. Navy.)
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“Is there a clean cell? Clean environment? Is it free of violence?
Are medical aid and adequate food being provided? Religious
services. Religious accommodations. Those are kind of the big
picture (items) of what they’re looking at,” said Michael.
It’s important to note that the U.S. Naval Brig Charleston is
accredited by the American Corrections Association and it’s 100
percent compliant with every required standard. The liaison Soldiers
are not expected to somehow uncover defaults or flaws here. Rather,
this experience shows them a picture of how a military prison ought
to run. In the past, they completed similar tours of state prisons
in Wisconsin and other parts of the country. With each visit, their
depth of knowledge on prison standards increases to perform their
official mission.
All five detachments belong to the U.S.
Army Reserve, under the 200th Military Police Command. They’re the
only units in existence with this function across the Army. Their
aim is to help improve prison conditions overseas, not merely report
infractions.
“Just to give an example, if we go to a facility
and they don’t have adequate water supply … we could go back to that
battle space commander and advise him to send an engineer team to
dig a well,” said Master Sgt. Carl Orvis, the noncommissioned
officer in charge of the 418th MP Det.
Because of their
advisory role to high-ranking officials, these small detachments are
filled with rank and experience. Each detachment is only 12-Soldiers
strong, but it’s commanded by a lieutenant colonel and staffed with
three master sergeants. Because they are Army Reserve units, many of
its Soldiers bring law enforcement and corrections facility
knowledge into their military mission from their civilian careers.
Training at the Naval brig gives them an even better sense of
how a military prison is run properly. They will then use this
knowledge to develop a standardized Army assessment program for
overseas missions.
“In itself, it’s pretty cool knowing that
we’re shaping what right is going to look like and making history
(for our career field),” said Glasgow.
Currently, there is no
Army doctrine published on the detention camp liaison mission. Those
documents will be developed and written as a result of these teams’
collective work and training.
Each of the five training
cycles at the Naval Brig lasts approximately one week. The process
begins with an initial briefing and a tour of the facilities. Then,
the detachment breaks up into teams to assess specific aspects of
the brig’s security and the prisoners’ living conditions. During
that process, the liaison Soldiers interview staff and make notes on
everything they see. They finish with a back brief to the prison’s
leadership with their assessment.
“We want to be that good
test platform to give them that experience. (If they deploy),
they’re doing this for real somewhere, so we want to make sure they
have the training they need,” said Michael.
During future
training events, these units hope to assess detention centers
overseas. While visiting military and civilian prisons in the United
States provides a helpful base, they want to elevate their training
by assessing facilities in partnering nations.
“We have
military bases in Honduras, Korea, throughout Afghanistan. (To
improve our training) we need to go somewhere that is not run by
U.S. forces, and not with the high tech, state-of-the-art facilities
that the United States has,” said Orvis.
That will make their
assessment process more realistic and help improve U.S. relations
with partnering nations throughout the world, said Orvis. And
perhaps, a few more people will learn what a detention camp liaison
detachment is, along the way.
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