Samuel Provance

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Samuel Provance, was a Military Intelligence soldier, who is most notable for going public with what he knew about the abuses at Abu Ghraib, against the direct orders from his commanders.^[1] Despite his initial punishment for it (suspended clearance and administrativly flagged), he continued to defy those orders and gave several television and newspaper interviews. The main points of his "whistleblowing" seem to be the role of interrogaters in abusing detainees, the knowledge of such abuse among the chain of command, and the overall cover-up of the scandal. Though most of what he says has been considered "second hand", it is important in that he claims his knowledge comes from the participants themselves.

Provance arrived at Abu Ghraib shortly after a fatal mortar attack claimed the lives of soldiers from his battalion in September 2003.^[2]

Though an Intelligence Analyst for V Corps during the initial phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom, at Abu Ghraib he was placed as the prison's System Administrator on the now infamous night shift. According to later testimony, he was also in charge of security in the Top Secret section of the prison. It was from these positions that Provance was privy to information about the prison's activities.

His first initial statement to investigators was in January 2004, and was used in the General Taguba Investigation. General Taguba listed Provance as a credible witness, and his name was first made public when Taguba's classified report was leaked to the public.

Provance said that when he was interviewed by Major General George Fay, the lead investigator of the Fay Report, Fay was only interested in the misdeeds of Military Police in the photographs, not of the Military Intelligence troops (Fay's focus was supposed to be Military Intelligence).^[3] According to Provance, Fay was very resistant to his testimony and then after having to receive Provance's testimony, decided to bring charges against him for not coming forward sooner ("dereliction of duty"---then later, "interfering with an official investigation" and "disobeying a direct order").

Two days later after being interviewed by Major General Fay, Provance was issued a gag order by his company commander, Captain Scott Hedberg. Provance was the only soldier from Abu Ghraib given such an order. Provance disobeyed this order when he went to the media with his allegations. A second gag order was given by his battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel James Norwood, as well as a suspension of Provance's Top Secret clearance and an administrative flag (a career hold). Provance also disobeyed this order. The Army didn't act again against Provance for another 16 months, when they demoted him.

In September 2004, Provance was sent to Washington D.C. to speak with Senate Armed Services Committee staff, in preparation for a Congressional hearing on the Major General Fay investigation of the 205th MI Brigade.^[4] Provance's flight was reportedly delayed by the Pentagon, which consequently cut his time with staffers significantly. It has not been made public exactly what happened during these meetings and who all Provance met with and revealed.

In February 2006, Provance tesified before a Congressional investigating committee. There Provance reveals that, after being "flagged" for 16 months, he had finally been demoted from Sergeant to Specialist in July 2005 for "disobeying a direct order", and since had been relegated to menial tasks (other charges had been dropped due to lack of evidence). He says he was threatened with a court-martial that would have gotten him 10 years in prison, had he not accepted the demotion. In further testimony, Provance reiterated being informed that a 16 year old boy had been tortured in order to make his father, Iraqi General Hamid Zabar, talk. Provance and another soldier had interrogated the boy not long after these events. Provance learned that the son had been imprisoned without charge in a part of the prison (along with his brother), in which rapes were common practice among detainees. Such treatment had been openly known, he said. He also reported the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl by two interrogators, actually disrupted by the MPs on duty, as well as many other things before unknown or not as detailed ^[5]

On July 6, 2006 the New York Times reported that the House Committee on Government Reform issued a subpoena to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld because he hadn't responded to a March 7, 2006 request for information relating to and regarding Provance's case.^[6] 4 months later, Rumsfeld resigned, and the subpoena and its inquiries remain a mystery.

Provance was honorably discharged from the US Army on October 13, 2006.

In November 2006, Provance appeared and spoke to a group of 350 peace activists in Maplewood, NJ. He recalled the son of an Iraqi General, "whose face haunts me to this day", as well as continuing to try and expose "the real villians committing even greater crimes".

In February 2007, Provance is seen in an HBO documentary, "Ghosts Of Abu Ghraib", where he describes the prison as, "Apocalypse Now meets The Shining...but this was for real".

In March 2007, Provance is published writing an article railing against Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for changing his stance from opposing torture to supporting it. He also reiterated his defense of the MP's charged in the scandal as well his condemnation of the chain of command he says was truly responsible.