Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
On March 18 the central Illinois chapter of the ACLU and Liberty Brew & View will co-host a showing of the HBO documentary The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. The film's website describes it...
Acclaimed filmmaker Rory Kennedy (HBO's "Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable") looks beyond the headlines to investigate the renowned Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the psychological and political context in which torture occurred through the powerful documentary GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB."How could ordinary American soldiers come to engage in such monstrous acts?" Kennedy asks. "What policies were put into place that allowed this behavior to flourish while protections granted to prisoners under the Geneva Conventions were ignored?"
"These photographs from Abu Ghraib have come to define the United States," says Scott Horton, chairman, Committee on International Law, NYC Bar Association. "The U.S., which was viewed as certainly one of the principal advocates of human rights and the dignity of human beings in the world, suddenly is viewed as a principle expositor of torture." The familiar and disturbing pictures of torture at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison raise many troubling questions: How did torture become an accepted practice at Abu Ghraib? Did U.S. government policies make it possible? How much damage has the aftermath of Abu Ghraib had on America's credibility as a defender of freedom and human rights around the world?
The showing is on the eve of the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion.
Tuesday, March 18
Movie begins at 7:00pm. The theater room opens at 6:30.
City Nights Theater at Capital City Bar & Grill
Capital City Shopping Center
3149 S. Dirksen Pkwy
Free Admission
ACLU Field Organizer Allie Carter will speak after the movie about US policy on torture.