Lynndie England

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox criminal Lynndie Rana England (born November 8, 1982)<ref>The Errol Morris film Standard Operating Procedure includes an interview in which England confirms that several of the infamous pictures were taken "after midnight", meaning on her 21st birthday (01:14:58 to 01:15:20), and images putting the pictures at 23:16 on 7 November (01:16:15 to 01:16:40). Although there is disparity as to date, this appears to indicate 08 November.</ref> is a former United States Army Reserve soldier who was prosecuted for mistreating detainees during the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad during the Iraq War.<ref name="DI_062909">Template:Cite news</ref> She was one of 11 military personnel from the 372nd Military Police Company who were convicted in 2005 for war crimes. After being sentenced to three years in prison and a dishonorable discharge, England was incarcerated from September 27, 2005, to March 1, 2007, when she was released on parole.

Early life

Born in Ashland, Kentucky,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> England moved with her family to Fort Ashby, West Virginia, when she was two years old. She was raised by her mother, Terrie Bowling England, and her father Kenneth R. England Jr., a railroad worker who worked at a station in Cumberland, Maryland. She aspired to be a storm chaser.<ref name="DI_062909"/> As a young child, England was diagnosed with selective mutism, a form of an anxiety disorder.<ref name=guardian>Template:Cite web</ref>

England joined the United States Army Reserve in Cumberland in 1999 while she was a junior at Frankfort High School near Short Gap. England worked as a cashier in an IGA store during her junior year of high school and married a co-worker in 2002, but they later divorced.<ref name="Woodruff" /> England also wished to earn money for college, so that she could become a storm chaser. She was also a member of the Future Farmers of America. After graduating from Frankfort High School in 2001, she worked a night job in a chicken-processing factory in Moorefield.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She was deployed to Iraq in June 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

England was engaged to fellow convicted war criminal and Abu Ghraib prison guard Charles Graner. In 2004, she gave birth to a son fathered by him<ref name="DI_062909"/><ref name="NBC Where Are They Now?"/> at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg.<ref name=stern0308/>

Involvement in prisoner abuse

Template:Main England mobilized with her Army Reserve unit and was stationed in Baghdad at Abu Ghraib prison in March 2003 to perform guard duties. Along with other soldiers, she was investigated in late 2003 for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners of war involving the infliction of sexual, physical and psychological abuse after photographs came to light showing prisoners being abused.

While formal charges were being prepared for general court-martial, England was transferred to the U.S. military installation at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on March 18, 2004, because of her pregnancy. Her court-martial was scheduled for September 2005 on charges of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners and assault consummated by battery.<ref name="DI_062909"/>

On April 30, 2005, England agreed to plead guilty to four counts of maltreating prisoners, two counts of conspiracy, and one count of dereliction of duty. In exchange, prosecutors would have dropped two other charges, committing indecent acts and failure to obey a lawful order. This plea deal would have reduced her maximum sentence from 16 years to 11 years had it been accepted by the military judge. In May 2005, however, Military Judge Colonel James Pohl declared a mistrial on the grounds that he could not accept England's plea of guilty to a charge of conspiring with Graner to maltreat detainees because Graner had testified that he believed that, in placing a tether around a naked detainee's neck and asking England to pose for a photograph with him, he was documenting a legitimate use of force. Graner was convicted on all charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison.<ref name="DI_062909"/> At her retrial, England was convicted on September 26, 2005, of one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act.<ref name="DI_062909"/> She was acquitted on a second conspiracy count. The next day, England was sentenced to a three-year prison term and a dishonorable discharge.<ref name="DI_062909"/>

Members of the United States Senate have reportedly reviewed additional photographs supplied by the Department of Defense that have not been publicly released. There has been considerable speculation as to the contents of these photos. In a March 2008 interview, England stated in response to a question about these unreleased pictures, "You see the dogs biting the prisoners. Or you see bite marks from the dogs. You can see MPs holding down a prisoner so a medic can give him a shot."<ref name=stern0308/>

England was incarcerated at Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar.<ref name="EnglandParole">Template:Cite news</ref> She was paroled on March 1, 2007, after serving 521 days, or just over 17 months.<ref name="EnglandParole"/> She remained on parole through September 2008 until her three-year sentence was complete, whereupon she was discharged.<ref name="DI_062909"/>

In a May 11, 2004, interview with the Denver CBS owned-and-operated television station KCNC-TV, England reportedly said that she had been "instructed by persons in higher ranks" to commit acts of abuse as a form of psychological operation, and that she should keep doing it, because it worked as intended. England noted that she felt "weird" when a commanding officer asked her to do such things as "stand there, give the thumbs up, and smile." However, England felt that she was doing "nothing out of the ordinary."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Woodruff">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Later life

After serving her sentence, England returned to Fort Ashby, West Virginia, and stayed with friends and family.<ref name="DI_062909"/>

On July 9, 2007, England was appointed to the Keyser, West Virginia, volunteer recreation board.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2009, England released Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs that Shocked the World, a biography that was set with a book tour that she hoped would rehabilitate her public image.<ref name="DI_062909"/> As of 2009, England was on antidepressant medication<ref name=guardian/> and also had post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.<ref name="DI_062909"/> As of 2013, she had found seasonal employment as a secretary.<ref name="NBC Where Are They Now?">Template:Cite news</ref>

In March 2008, England told the German magazine Stern that the media was to blame for the consequences of the Abu Ghraib scandal.<ref name=stern0308>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a 16 January 2009 interview with The Guardian, England noted being pressured by Graner to pose for the prison photos.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2012, following her release, she stated that she did not regret her actions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

References

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Further reading

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