Protests in Islamabad, Pakistan following allegations of U.S. military personnel desecrating of the Qur'an at Camp X-ray at Guantanamo Bay.

On April 30, 2005 Newsweek magazine published an article claiming that a United States government report supported widely-circulated claims of Qur'an (Koran) desecration at Camp X-Ray, a U.S. military detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was alleged that U.S. interrogators had deliberately defaced the Qur'an as a tactic for intimidating Muslim detainees. The revelations provoked massive anti-U.S. demonstrations throughout the Islamic world. At least 17 people died in riots in Afghanistan, although the connection between those riots and the news story is unclear. Protests in Islamabad against allegations of desecration of the Quran by the United States military. ... Protests in Islamabad against allegations of desecration of the Quran by the United States military. ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining, as the last day in April. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Newsweek Logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and Canada. ... Quran desecration means insulting the Quran, the holy book of Islam, by defiling or disfacing it. ... Camp X-Ray, shown here under construction, is the temporary holding facility for detainees held at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ... Map of Cuba with location of Guantanamo Bay indicated. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... The Islamic world is the world-wide community of all believers in Islam, who are known as Muslims, and who number approximately one-and-a-half billion people. ...

The Newsweek article, by reporter Michael Isikoff, was one of over a dozen such reports of similar incidents that had surfaced in prior months in the U.S. and U.K. media, but the first involving a U.S. government source acknowledging an inquiry into the event. The Isikoff article was later retracted by Newsweek, which nonetheless defended both its reporter and the story, stating "neither we nor the Pentagon had any idea it would lead to deadly riots." The case turned the spotlight on other reports of desecration of Qur'an at Guantánamo. Michael Isikoff is an investigative journalist for the US-based magazine Newsweek. ... ... The Pentagon, looking east with the Potomac River and Washington Monument in the distance. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; its literal meaning is the recitation and is often called Al Quran Al Karim: The Noble Quran, also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...

Background

The Newsweek report cited an anonymous source, said to be a senior government official, who claimed to have seen a confidential investigative report documenting the alleged incident — in which interrogators, "in an attempt to rattle suspects, reportedly flushed a Qur'an down a toilet."

On May 16, Newsweek said it was retracting the statement that the abuse had been uncovered by an "internal military investigation." after the source of the story was later unable to confirm where he had seen the information. In its May 23 issue, Newsweek stated that: May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ...

Our original source later said he couldn't be certain about reading of the alleged Qur'an incident in the report we cited, and said it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts. Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we. But we regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst.

The New York Times quoted Isikoff as saying: The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Neither Newsweek nor the Pentagon foresaw that a reference to the desecration of the Koran was going to create the kind of response that it did. The Pentagon saw the item before it ran, and then they didn't move us off it for 11 days afterward. They were as caught off guard by the furor as we were. We obviously blame ourselves for not understanding the potential ramifications.

Repercussions

The article went largely unnoticed for five days. On May 6 a popular Pakistani member of parliament, Imran Khan, held a press conference. Khan, who is a sharp critic of both Islamist terrorism and of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, criticized Pakistan's governent, saying, "This war on terrorism is self-defeating if, on the one hand, you [Musharraf] are demanding that we help them and on the other hand, they are desecrating the book on which our entire faith is based." Khan's press conference was rebroadcast throughout the Muslim world. May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... Imran Khan (Mohammad Imran Khan Niazi, born November 25, 1952) was a Pakistani cricketer (1971-1992) and captain of the Pakistani cricket team. ... General Pervez Musharraf (born August 11, 1943, Delhi, India) became de facto Head of Government (using the title Chief Executive and assuming extensive powers) of Pakistan on October 12, 1999 following a bloodless coup détat. ...

By May 10th, and continuing through the following week, many anti-American protests arose, and in some areas these turned into bloody riots. In Afghanistan, demonstrations that began in the eastern provinces and spread to Kabul were reported to have caused at least 17 deaths. The United Nations, as a precautionary measure, withdrew all its foreign staff from Jalalabad, where two of its guest houses were attacked, government buildings and shops were targeted, and the offices of two international aid groups were destroyed. Demonstrations also took place in Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan and Indonesia. [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4539477.stm) Kabul (Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... Jalalabad (Persian: Jalālābād) is the capital of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, 150 km east of Kabul near the Khyber Pass. ... The term Palestine may refer to: Palestine: A geographical region in the Middle East, centered on Jerusalem. ...

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said, "The report had real consequences, people have lost their lives. Our image abroad has been damaged." Categories: People stubs | 1968 births | White House Press Secretaries | U.S. campaign managers ...

However, in a press release issued by the United States Department of State on May 12, General Richard B. Myers said the Newsweek story was not a chief cause of the riots: "He has been told that the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, rioting was related more to the ongoing political reconciliation process in Afghanistan than anything else." [2] (http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2005/May/12-273892.html?chanlid=washfile) The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... General Richard B. Myers General Richard Bowman Myers (born March 1, 1942) of the United States Air Force is the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking uniformed position in the United States Armed Forces. ...

Others were less certain. Syndicated U.S. columnist Molly Ivins, never one to mince words, wrote on May 17: Molly Ivins (born August 30, 1944) is an American political commentator, journalist, and author based in Austin, Texas. ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ...

So where does all this leave us? With a story that is not only true, but previously reported numerous times. So let's drop the "Lynch Newsweek" bull. Seventeen people have died in these riots. They didn't die because of anything Newsweek did — the riots were caused by what our government has done. Get your minds around it. Our country is guilty of torture. [3] (http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/22026/)

On May 27, thousands of demonstrators, having apparently reached the same conclusion, gathered in what the New York Times referred to as "waves of protest" in Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Middle East, "mostly centered on Friday prayer gatherings." The Times reported that American flags were burned at some demonstrations, and that, although most of the protests were peaceful, overt calls for an "Islamic revolution" were loudly supported by the crowds in Pakistan, further complicating a difficult political situation for General Musharraf. May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Pre-Newsweek allegations

The alleged Newsweek's sourcing problems notwithstanding, there were in fact over a dozen pre-Newsweek reports of the allegations. A sampling:

• In 2003, an Afghan former prisoner told the Washington Post that U.S. soldiers tormented him by throwing the Koran in the toilet.[4] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/13/AR2005051301377.html)

• The BBC reported on December 30, 2004 that the former Guantánamo prisoner Abdallah Tabarak maintained that "American soldiers used to tear up copies of the Koran and throw them in the toilet."

• In a book review dated January 16, 2005, the Hartford Courant reported that five British detainees, after their release, claimed that they "had seen other prisoners sexually humiliated, had been hooded, and were forced to watch copies of the Koran being flushed down toilets." (Compare: Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse)

• The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on January 20, 2005 that there were complaints concerning guards who had "defaced their copies of the Koran and, in one case, had thrown it in a toilet."

• The Miami Herald reported on March 6, 2005 that three Guantánamo captives — Fawzi al Odah, 27, Fouad al Rabiah, 45, and Khalid al Mutairi, 29 — "separately complained to their lawyer that military police threw their Korans into the toilet."

• The Miami Herald also reported on March 9, 2005 that Guantánamo Base staff insulted Allah and "threw Korans into toilets."

• The New York Times reported on May 1, 2005 that "[Mr. al-Mutairi] said ... a protest of guards' handling of copies of the Koran, which had been tossed into a pile and stepped on, a senior officer delivered an apology over the camp's loudspeaker system, pledging that such abuses would stop."

2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter from the Crown. ... December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Hartford Courant is Connecticuts largest daily newspaper, and the only morning newspaper for most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury. ... {{{mWf}}} This article contains photographs of torture, nudity, and a deceased person. ... The Philadelphia Inquirer is the major daily newspaper for the Philadelphia area. ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by Knight Ridder. ... March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An example of allāhu written in simple Arabic calligraphy For the town in Nigeria see Allah (town in Nigeria). ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Post-Newsweek allegations

• According to the Washington Post on May 18, 2005 Newsweek may have confused the story with an account that some detainees blocked their own toilets with copies of the Qur'an (as a form of protest). [5] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/18/AR2005051800869.html)

• However, according to reports from the Associated Press and the BBC on May 19, a Red Cross spokesperson Simon Schorno confirmed that U.S. personnel at Camp X-ray had displayed "disrespect" to the Qur'an, and that U.S. officials knew of this activity. Delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross informed U.S. authorities, who took action to stop the alleged abuse, said Schorno. He declined to specify the nature of the incidents.

"We're basically referring in general terms to disrespect of the Quran, and that's where we leave it," Schorno told The Associated Press. "We believe that since, U.S. authorities have taken the corrective measures that we required in our interventions." [6] (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-red-cross-guantanamo-quran,1,1989458.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines), see also: [7] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4564405.stm)

May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Associated Press logo The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency that claims to be the worlds oldest and largest. ... May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). ... The terms Red Cross and Red Crescent are often used as short names for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, or its two leading international organs, the ICRC and the IFRCS. This page is about the symbol itself, see respective articles for information about the organizations and movements. ... Camp X-Ray, shown here under construction, is the temporary holding facility for detainees held at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ...

FBI documents release

After a verdict by a federal court on May 25, 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) obtained documents from the FBI interrogations of Guantanamo Bay detainees dating back to August 2002. The documents stated that some detainees had witnessed Qur'an desecration, among other acts, on many occasions by their guards — and included the sentence "They flushed a Koran in the toilet" in a document dated August 1, 2002. Guantánamo Bay Quran desecration allegations http://www. ... Guantánamo Bay Quran desecration allegations http://www. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, is a non_governmental organization devoted to defending civil rights and civil liberties in the United States. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Map of Cuba with location of Guantanamo Bay indicated. ... Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 1st is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The ruling of the court came under the Freedom of Information Act [8] (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N25430006.htm) Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ...

The ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said, in a news release, that "The United States government continues to turn a blind eye to mounting evidence of widespread abuse of detainees held in its custody." The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, is a non_governmental organization devoted to defending civil rights and civil liberties in the United States. ...

The FBI declared that it could not investigate the matter, as it was up to the Defense Department to do so. For its part, the Pentagon, through its spokesman Lawrence Di Rita, appeared to have transitioned from flat denials to vagueness and unsettled syntax: "There have been instances, and we'll have more to say about it as we learn more, but where a Qur'an may have fallen to the floor in the course of searching a cell." The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... In geometry, a pentagon is any five-sided polygon. ...

Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, told reporters that "past accusations have had credibility issues."

James Jaffer, an attorney working for the ACLU, was quoted by the New York Times as stating that errors in the Newsweek story had been used to discredit other investigative efforts conducted by his organization and other groups "that were not based on anonymous sources, but [on] government documents, reports written by FBI agents."

Many questioned the veracity of such accounts, noting that the FBI, in 2004, had released a captured Al-Qaeda training manual (http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm) indicating that Al-Qaeda members are trained to make false accusations once captured. However, most of the accusations of Qur'an "toilet" desecrations now on the public record have been made by former detainees who were released by the U.S. government after being held without trial, and thus would seem to be low-probability candidates for al-Qaeda membership.

See also

• Qur'an desecration
• Host desecration – a (mythical) parallel from Christianity
• Flag desecration – an act of civil disobedience or protest
• Hate speech
• Racism
• Religious imperialism
• Religious intolerance
• Bagram torture and prisoner abuse
• Human Rights Record of the United States

Quran desecration means insulting the Quran, the holy book of Islam, by defiling or disfacing it. ... Host desecration is an anti-semitic myth similar to the blood libel myth. ... Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... Flag desecration is a blanket term applied to various ways of intentionally defacing or dishonoring a flag, most often a national flag (though other flags are defaced as well). ... Civil disobedience encompasses the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government or of an occupying power without resorting to physical violence. ... Hate speech is a controversial term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against someone based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. ... An African-American drinks out of a water cooler designated for use by colored patrons in 1939 at a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City. ... Religious imperialism is a policy intended to spread religious beliefs to people, territories or nations through the use of warfare, oppression, conversion and other means. ... Religious intolerance is intolerance motivated by ones own religious beliefs, generally against anothers religious beliefs. ... In 2005, an 2000-page official report comfirmed the abuse and torture of two innocent Afghan prisoners in a U.S. concentration camp in Bagram, by personnel of the U.S. armed forces in 2002. ... The Human Rights Record of the United States (informally referred to as the China Human Rights Report) is an annual publication of the Information Office of Chinas State Council, an agency of the government of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

External links

• Gitmo: SouthCom Showdown (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7693014/site/newsweek/) – original May 9, 2005 Newsweek story
• The Editor's Desk (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857154/site/newsweek/) – Newsweek's May 23, 2005 apology
• Human Rights Watch report (http://hrw.org/press/2003/01/wr2003.htm)
• Inquiry Finds Abuses at Guantánamo Bay (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/national/nationalspecial3/01gitmo.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) by Neil A. Lewis and Eric Schmitt, New York Times, May 1, 2005.
• Newsweek Retracts Account of Koran Abuse by U.S. Military (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/politics/17koran.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland), New York Times, May 17, 2005.
• Op-Ed: It's All Newsweek's Fault (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/opinion/22rich.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) by Frank Rich, New York Times, May 22, 2005.
• Did Newsweek Really Err? (http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=165181)
• Molly Ivins: Don't Blame Newsweek (http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/22026/)
• Editorial: Patterns of Abuse (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/23/opinion/23mon1.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland), New York Times, May 23, 2005.
• Documents Say Detainees Cited Abuse of Koran by Guards (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/26/politics/26koran.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) by Neil A. Lewis, New York Times, May 26, 2005.
• U.S. 'Thumbs Its Nose' at Rights, Amnesty Says (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/26/international/europe/26amnesty.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) by Alan Cowell, New York Times, May 26, 2005.
• Inquiry by U.S. Finds 5 Cases of Koran Harm (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/politics/27koran.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) by Thom Shanker, New York Times, May 27, 2005.
• Transcript of press conference featuring Guantanamo Commander Brigadier General Jay Hood (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/05/mil-050526-dod02.htm)
• In Rising Numbers, Lawyers Head for Guantánamo Bay (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/politics/30detain.html?ex=1270785600&en=37bef79604f97228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) by Neil A. Lewis, New York Times, May 30, 2005.