Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

From the gleaming conference tables of the US administration to blood-spattered, shit-smeared Abu Ghraib. Rory Kennedy looks at the psychological and political context of a dreadful scandal. Through candid interviews with perpetrators, witnesses, and victims, she tries to understand how ordinary soldiers could perpetrate such acts. Ex-service personnel prosecuted for the abuses discuss how they were given conflicting guidance on how far to go to get results. Asked to do the impossible with no resources, with 1 guard for every 200 prisoners, they were jailed for their actions, which their high-ranking superiors avoided. This case is but one example of systemic abuse: far from the work of foreign psychopaths, torture is a cornerstone of US foreign policy. The Bush administration made a high-level decision to work out how far they could go before the Geneva Convention was violated. Combining interviews with photos and footage from the infamous prison, this potent piece of filmmaking asks how a country which calls itself a defender of human rights can commit and trivialise torture. (DOK.fest München)