In Article 3 of the Human Rights Act (which was signed and agreed to by the US) it states prohibition of torture and explains this as the following: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
The events that took place in Abu Ghraib also breach the Geneva Convention which states very clear what is acceptable and what isn’t as to how you treat prisoners of war. In Article 3 of the Geneva it states the following:
To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) Taking of hostages;
(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples
In article 13 of the Geneva Convention also sates the following:
Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention. In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest.
Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.
The US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld there where many more videos and pictures about events taking place in Abu Ghraib. These are kept at the Pentagon.
60% of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib weren’t considered to be a threat to society.
American soldiers used the excuse of “following orders” when carrying out such horrendous acts. Here is where blind obedience should be questioned.
Seventeen soldiers where removed from duty and another seven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault, and battery because of these findings.
Between May, 2004 and September 2005, seven soldiers were convicted in courts martial, sentenced to federal prison time and dishonorably discharged from service. Two soldiers who where at the time engaged to each other were sentenced to ten years for Specialist Charles Graner, and three years in prison for Private Lynndie England. The commanding officer of the prison Brigadier General Janis Karpinski was demoted to the rank of colonel.
Role of discipline:
In completing this assigned task I am asked to look at two particular public services, the two public services I have are the Police Service and the Fire Service. I shall then continue by analysing the role of these two public services and what they role is, and then explain why it is important to enforce discipline within these particular public services.
Role of discipline in the Police service:
Discipline in the police service is to ensure that all members of the police know what behaviour is appropriate and what behaviour isn’t. This maintains a structure within the service.
The Police Service in most areas tends to have very similar duties, the police force is there to “Serve and Protect” the community.
Each element of their work is crucial to keep people safe from each other. Police patrol our streets regularly; contrary to common belief this isn’t done just to see if anyone is infringing the law, on many occasions the police officers are talking to each other in a quite relaxed manner one of the main reasons for the police patrolling the streets is to actually deter people from committing a crime, it is logical that if you for instance are wanting to attack someone you will do it in the way that it would draw less attention so that you would be less likely to get caught, not in a place where you are being observed and can be caught easily, seeing a figure of authority is more than likely going to make you think twice.
The Police Service is involved in many activities, that I have not yet mentioned these are the following;
- Peace-keeping activities
- Dealing with conflict
It is vital that the police are well organized and have good levels of self discipline and respect for authority to keep a consistent structure in the force.
Role of discipline in the Fire service:
Discipline in the fire service is to ensure that all members of the police know what behaviour is appropriate and what behaviour isn’t. This maintains a structure within the service
Discipline within the Fire not only maintains a good structure like it would do in any public service but it also ensures safety. Discipline ensures that respect and loyalty is maintained and that motivation is improved.
Rules and Regulations:
Police Force:
Within the police force there are many rules that have to be followed these will guide how they perform their job roles. These rules and regulations may be in accordance to legal regulations or just rules within that service regarding things such as uniform and punctuality.
An example of rules and regulations affecting how they perform their roles are the guidelines for Stop and Search this is included in PACE (the Police and Criminal Evidence Act).
PACE: this is basically a book which explains al the codes of practice, this is updated regularly and isn’t only available to members of the police force but also the general public as it can be purchased in most bookstores. PACE is separated into sections for easy access.
Legal powers of the police are governed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act most commonly known as PACE this act was created in 1984 to give the police a guideline as to how to cat and when different actions where appropriate to avoid confusions as to when to take certain actions, it is a guideline for the police laid out in sections so that police can follow it logically to detain and question.
There are 5 main areas within PACE that create guidelines for the police over the main areas in which they are to work with.
Stop- To stop somebody you must have an understandable reason for this.
Search- you can only do this if it is truly necessary, if you suspect they may be carrying drugs, stolen goods, etc…
Seizure of goods- this is a form of confiscation. If you believe that the goods are dangerous or illegal.
Arrest- you may arrest anyone if they believe you have reasonable grounds to do so. E.g. if you honestly believe that they are breaking the law.
Detain- this is when suspect is kept in the Police Station, you may want to keep the person in for further question if have clear evidence that may affect the case.
Police activities are also controlled by law PCA (Police Complaints Authority) which was set up to ensure that the police also abide by the regulation PCA deals with complaints and discipline. Officers from other forces will always deal with disputes.
Below you will find a table describing these five sections of PACE.
Police roles in the English legal system:
The Polices’ main tasks and responsibilities based on the information booklet presented by the Derbyshire Constabulary in an information booklet are the following:
- Interview people suspected of criminal offences to discover the truth
- Interview and record statements from witnesses and victims of occurrences to discover the truth
- Processing persons through the custody office by documentation, fingerprinting and photographing.
- Identification of persons committing criminal offences, traffic offences and breaches of the peace and dealing with those persons according to Force Policy
- Speaking to and reassuring the public, victims of crime, victims of road traffic accidents and giving advice on prison prevention
- Patrol assigned beat, familiarise self with persons and property in the area to identify policy needs and maintain good relations with public
- Gathering of police information on beat area and submission of such, through written and verbal means
- Attend court as a witness and give evidence according to formalised procedures
- Liaison from Officers from specialised departments and outside agencies in the resolving of allocated cases
- Writing of pocket notebook entries, statements and other documentation, preparation of files for Court and other interested parties
- Liaison with colleagues and supervision to ensure that work is co-ordinated to the Force Aims and Goals
- Undertake the searching of persons, vehicles and premises to locate evidence and the recording of circumstances
- Attending the scenes of crime to obtain details, preserve evidence and initiate criminal enquiries
- Attend scenes of road traffic accidents, administer first aid when necessary, interview participants and record details
- Be proficient in the use of computer equipment to record crimes, intelligence etc. Record details of missing persons, may undertake searches in the immediate vicinity
- Be proficient in the use of everyday technical equipment, including radio, telephone, baton, handcuffs, breath testing device, riot shield, tape recording machines, computers etc
- Ensure that the safe keeping and lawful disposal of any property that comes into their possession
- Attend Scenes of sudden death and record details of Coroner, ensuring that all persons involved are dealt with in a caring and compassionate manner
- To undergo Police instruction both in and out of classroom
- Undertake any other duties that a Police Officer may be required to carry out.
The Police Service in most areas tends to have very similar duties they are there to “Serve and Protect” the community.
Each element of their work is crucial to keep people safe from each other. Police patrol our streets regularly; contrary to common belief this isn’t done just to see if anyone is infringing the law, on many occasions the police officers are talking to each other in a quite relaxed manner one of the main reasons for the police patrolling the streets is to actually deter people from committing a crime, it is logical that if you for instance are wanting to attack someone you will do it in the way that is the most discreet for you,
Not in a place where you are being observed and can be caught easily, seeing a figure of authority is more than likely going to make you think twice.
The Police Service is involved in many activities, that I have not yet mentioned these are the following;
- Peace-keeping activities
- Dealing with conflict
Peace-keeping activities: these aren’t only carried out by soldiers when they go out to other countries to offer help and support in keeping violent activities at the lowest rate possible; which is what springs to mind when we think of peace-keeping. Our local Police Service will be carrying peacekeeping activities, which are vital to maintain the security of the community, most of the time. An example of this is on Friday and Saturday nights in the town centres, where Police Officers are not only acting as a visual deterrent but also dealing with the people who may be causing a bother to other members of the public, this can be very risky as it is highly likely that these people have been drinking an excessive amount of alcohol, and are going to violent, the are to keep the situation under control, this is dealing with trouble-makers in the most appropriate way depending on the behaviour and auctions of these. This can also be an example of the Police Service having to deal with conflict, another example would be when Police Officers are at football stadiums during matches, this is necessary because there are large groups of people who can be very excitable, and there is a possibility that fights will begin between supporters of different teams, it is necessary that the police is there to represent law and order, and to deal with any conflict that may occur.
Preserving the Queens Peace:
This is an old concept that while the lords and people of the country remained loyal to the country the King or Queen would provide the nation with peace, security and stability. Consequently the police are to maintain the peace. For this reason somebody can be arrested for disturbing the Peace
The police do this by
-
Protecting and helping the community
- And by having Integrity, common sense and sound judgment
The processing of offenders:
Obtaining evidence:
Burden of proof: In civil proceedings the position is essentially that the claimant takes care of bearing the legal weight of proof for example if the claimant declares that he and the defendant formed a contract an that he suffered loss in consequence of the defendant infringing the contract, it is for the claimant to prove that the contract was formed, that it was infringe by the defendant and that he did suffer loss in consequence to that infringement. The police are to accumulate evidence of sufficient weight to achieve a conviction.
Different police forces are investing more and more money into in staff and technology to help us analyse the offending patterns of persistent offenders and targeting them, we have made significant in-roads into reducing certain types of volume crime.
Giving evidence:
This would be when for example a witness of a crime acts as a witness in court and gives evidence. A witness in a criminal case is not just someone who sees an offence being committed. It is anyone who can give information to the court, relevant to the offence. You may be the owner of property that has been stolen or damaged. You can give evidence about the value of the property and when you last saw it before the damage or theft happened.
Police officers can also give evidence of a crime and act as witness for example if they saw somebody attack another person and the police officer had to deal with the situation they can give evidence of what they saw take place.
The investigation of sudden or suspicious deaths:
In all suspicious deaths the case should be in the beginning investigated as if it were a murder until the evidence shows this is not so. In all suspicious deaths, including suspected suicide cases, investigative priorities must be readily identified thereby ensuring that key witnesses are interviewed without delay and that illustrates signs such as clothing are retained and submitted for forensic examination. It is vital to quickly recover key documentary evidence regarding the issue of weapons, guard rosters etc as otherwise such records may be destroyed or lost. The following actions should be considered:
A) The Post Mortem Examination. In suspected suicide cases a Forensic pathologist should conduct the post mortem examination, with a SOCO in attendance to provide adequate photography of injuries, take latent fingerprint impressions, hand swabs etc and to recover the deceased's clothing. The recovered clothing and any gloves/hand swabs should then be submitted for forensic examination as necessary. In such cases clothing and other exhibits, albeit biohazards, should be retained indefinitely.
B) Interview of Key Witnesses. As a matter of policy, a clear strategy should be determined early in the inquiry to interview and record statements where necessary from key individuals. It is crucial that such witnesses are located and interviewed quickly, otherwise their varying accounts will be clouded by time and confused with accounts they have heard from elsewhere. Crucially, in cases were suicide is suspected, it will be necessary to formally record in individual statements whether the witness can provide any reason for the deceased's course of action, including whether or not any bullying is apparent. The full military background of any deceased soldier, including copies of pertinent orders, training records etc should be thoroughly researched. Interviews should extend to colleagues, close friends and military supervisors.
C) Background Medical Factors. It will be necessary to recover a deceased's medical documents from the medical officer civilian doctor concerned, and record any material evidence such as any previous self-harm or psychiatric assessments. This should extend to any significant behavioural or medical factors prior to joining HM Forces; the parents of the deceased should also be visited.
D) Families Liaison Officer. It is vital that the bereaved are given accurate and timely information at the outset of enquiries, as well as providing important witness information to the Service Police. Whereas in the United Kingdom the civil police may carry this out, there is no real substitute to having a Service Police Family Liaison Officer able to provide accurate factual information and support both from a police and "Army" perspective. A trained Families Liaison Officer (FLO) should be appointed in all cases, and services offered to the bereaved through the civilian police and PS4 (A) CAS/Comp. It is imperative that any visit by a Service Police FLO is thoroughly co-ordinated, a joint civil/service police being the favoured option in the United Kingdom. Once cleared, consideration should be given to allowing the bereaved an escorted visit to the scene of death.
E) Other Investigative Considerations. Depending on the circumstances, specifically where evidential gaps appear, the following actions, which are not exhaustive, should be considered:
1st Searches of the deceased's room, place of work, vehicle, combined with the recovery of any mobile telephone or computer belonging to or used by the deceased.
2nd Determine the whereabouts of all people in the area.
3rd Consider any house-to-house enquiries.
4th Consider media appeals for information.
5th Produce customised witness performs when it is necessary to deal with large numbers of potential witnesses, such as in a barrack area.
6th Consider a "reconstruction" of route taken by deceased prior to death.
Fire Service:
It is vital that rules and regulations are followed in every Public service but in the Fire service there is a high level of danger involved and they have to be well organized and work well in a team know what each person is doing and stick to plans made for example if there was a burning building to rescue the people that are trapped inside. It is necessary to make sure people know what they are meant to be doing and how the whole team is going to deal with the situation, so that the mission is carried out as well as possible. The results of this would be that the functions would be carried out in a safer way, reducing the possibilities of loosing lives, and less damage being caused and the increase of the crew’s safety.
Esprit de corps:
Esprit de corps is the term used to define the sense of pride, mutual trust, loyalty, and belonging within the particular public service you belong to. Rules and regulations are in place to make sure that the esprit de corps is maintained. And if a member of that particular public service breaks the rules then he or she is disciplined. A member miss-behaving could bring a bad name upon the specific public service, having pride about the work you carry out would avoid this. Behaviours that would for example bring the Police Force into disregard would be for example:
- Coercion
- Racism
- Drug dealing
- Murder
- Theft
- Neglect of duty
- Fraud
- Assault
- Corruption
- Preventing the cause of justice
- Threatening behaviour
- Harassment
Behaviours such as the above would not be accepted within the force, but when the community found out about them it would make the community likely to have a flawed look onto the Service.
Both the Police service and the Fire service do a great work for the local communities they work in. members of both these Public services have every reason to have pride in their work and in the belonging to these services.
This is the feeling of companionship between you and your colleagues, the feeling that you are a team and feel proud of the work you are doing. This is essential to keep a good team spirit and allow things to run smoothly.
Following orders:
An essential factor of discipline is following orders. Not following orders leads to the undermining that persons authority. People who are in authority are there because they have proven that they deserve to be through their hard work to get and expertise.
Not following orders would have a very negative effect on you as you would be disciplined for this, as behaviours like this could easily lead to people dieing or being seriously wounded.
Police force:
If for example you were told to go search a house to look for evidence, and you refused to because you thought that you had a better plan which meant not searching the house yet. Your actions could lead to evidence being hidden, and the case falling through. In which case you would be disciplined for not following orders, and preventing the course of justice.
Fire service:
I am now going to write an example of what could happen if you didn’t follow instructions given.
There’s a fire in a house you and you colleagues have been briefed on the situation and you have been told to meet back outside after a short period of time once he inside the house he has the idea that he can stay a little longer and go about it differently and he decides to do so. Outside the team members are waiting for him ad decide that something must of happened to him so although the victims have rescued the fire-fighters re-enter the enter the building in order to try and save their colleague. But the fire has spread too much and two of them die inside the house whilst the fire-fighter that did not follow the orders comes out of the back of the house with only mild injuries.
Here the fire-fighters irresponsible attitude costs two or the lives of their colleagues.
Hierarchy of Authority:
The Hierarchy of Authority is the pattern in which each rank is separated going from your lowest rank to your highest. You can move through the ranks by showing your worthiness in your behaviour, through qualifications, or bettering yourself through specific courses or schemes.
Police forces Hierarchy of Authority:
Chief Constable
Deputy Chief Constable
Assistant Chief Constable
Chief Superintendent
Superintendent
Chief Inspector
Inspector
Sergeant
Constable
The Fire Service’s Hierarchy of Authority:
Chief Fire Officer
Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Assistant Chief Fire Officer
Senior Divisional Fire Officer
Divisional Officer
Assistant Divisional Officer
Station Officer
Sub Officer
Leading Fire Fighter
Fire Fighter
Maintaining Order:
Order can be maintained through discipline, even though there may not be any actual rules governing this.
Most expectations toward how the members of the police service behave are set up within the rules and regulations, but anything that isn’t can be achieved by discipline within the specific service and the respect towards authority.
Loyalty:
Loyalty refers to being faithful or truthful to somebody in this case the public service you belong to. This implies that a member of a particular public service shouldn’t miss behave or fail to follow orders for example if they are being attacked he or she should stick by the team members and carry on doing their job regardless of the situation. Even if this means putting your own best interests at risk.
Current affairs:
Here I am going to include an extract from the article found on the following website
Reservists plead moral objection to fighting Iraq
Members of the Territorial Army are registering as "conscientious objectors" with the Ministry of Defence and refusing to fight in a war against Iraq.
The Telegraph has found that three soldiers in one unit have applied to be exempted from service in the Gulf on grounds that the conflict is "morally wrong". Under the terms of the 1996 Reserve Forces Act, anyone who refuses to answer a call up is liable to a court martial or prosecution in a civil court. They face jail if found guilty.
Despite that prospect, one of the "conscientious objectors", who serves with the Territorial Army's 217 Field Squadron, based in Holloway, north London, said that he had told the MoD he was not prepared to go to Iraq. He added that he would use all available avenues to seek exemption from fighting in a "war about revenge".
The man, a 36-year-old architect who has been a member of the TA for six years, said: "When I joined I was quite prepared to be called up to defend my country. But this war is not about defending Britain. If I go to war then I want it to be with the support of my country and not just because the president of the United States wants cheaper oil
"I joined to learn new skills. I was under the impression that it was a voluntary commitment but now I realise that it is not that easy to get out of. But I will use all avenues available.”
"People are very upset about being forced to go to war in these circumstances. They do not want to fight a war they don't believe in."
Two of the soldier's colleagues in 217 Field Squadron - a man and a woman - have also sought exemption on moral grounds, after being given 12 days to report for duty or provide a valid reason for not doing so. All three have officially been excused from duty, though on the basis of objections from their employers.
The reservists' attitude was criticised by former soldiers. Neil Griffiths, of the Royal British Legion in Scotland, said: "It comes down to them not having the stomach for going to war. They probably joined the TA because they enjoyed putting on a uniform at weekends and taking a two-week holiday in the sun with the lads.
The TA makes up a quarter of the British Army and consists of 40,000 part-time volunteer soldiers. Members are expected to attend one night a week at their local centre and give up 30 days a year for training weekends and camps. Nearly 5,000 TA members have been sent call-up notices for Iraq and about 1,500 have already reported for duty.
The MoD said that on average 20 per cent of reservists sought exemption but was unable to say on what grounds. "At this stage it is impossible to know how many, if any, of the exemptions were sought on the basis of conscientious objection," said a spokesman.
This brings in to mind an important issue with discipline the TA is part of the Army, which in turn is well known for its high levels of discipline.