Making of ‘Abu Ghraib’ (by Sabrina Harman, 2003), 2014

The story behind the photograph…

From 2003 to 2006, the prison complex of Abu Ghraib, located west of Baghdad, was used for detention purposes by the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition forces who were then occupying the country. In May 2004, an article was published in The New Yorker magazine reporting torture, mistreatment and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at the facility. The story included a photograph of a hooded man forced to stand on a narrow cardboard box, his arms outstretched and his fingers wired with electrodes. The now-infamous photo was taken by US Army Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick. Approximately three minutes later, Specialist Sabrina Harman (b. 1978) took a similar shot. Harman was one of several guards to be charged with abuse of Abu Ghraib detainees. The man under the hood was eventually revealed to be Ali Shalal, an Islamic education lecturer. He survived, and – in the name of all those who had been tortured to death – supplied testimony confirming the atrocities that had been committed at Abu Ghraib, including the fact that he had been electrocuted on multiple occasions. Harman received a bad conduct discharge and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.