Donald Vance
Encyclopedia
Donald Vance is an American Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 veteran who was held in detention at Camp Cropper
Camp Cropper
Camp Cropper is a holding facility for security detainees operated by the United States Army near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. The facility was initially operated as a high-value detention site , but has since been expanded increasing its capacity from 163 to 2,000 detainees...

, the United States military's maximum-security detention site in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 for 97 days beginning in April 2006. On December 18, 2006, Vance filed suit against the US government and the former US Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, on grounds that he was tortured and his rights of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

 were violated.

He won the 2007 Ron Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize for coming forward with his story on April 4, 2007.

Background

Vance was a 29-year-old Navy veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...

 from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 when he went to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 as a security contractor. Vance became an unpaid informant for the F.B.I., passing them evidence that seemed to suggest that the Iraqi security firm at which he worked might be engaged in illegal weapons trading, particularly to officials from the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

However, when American soldiers raided the firm, he was treated as a suspect. Another American who worked for the company, but had resigned over the alleged weapons trading, was also detained. Vance was held for three months at Camp Cropper
Camp Cropper
Camp Cropper is a holding facility for security detainees operated by the United States Army near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. The facility was initially operated as a high-value detention site , but has since been expanded increasing its capacity from 163 to 2,000 detainees...

, America’s maximum security prison site in Baghdad.

Incarceration

Vance claims he was subject to interrogations, inhumane treatment and sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Few studies have compared the...

 techniques during his time at Camp Cropper. A Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...

 spokesperson, First Lt. Lea Ann Fracasso, claimed the men had been "treated fair and humanely", and that there was no record of either man complaining about his treatment. Though officials were informed by his F.B.I. handler that he was an informant after his first three weeks of detention, they decided that he still "posed a threat". He took notes on his imprisonment and smuggled them out in a Bible.

Although denied legal representation at his detainment hearing on 24 April, he was allowed to attend it because he was an American. Two weeks into his detention, he was allowed to phone his fiancee in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, who had already informed her Congressional representative of his apparent disappearance. He wrote ten letters home, one of which arrived in November 2006 dated 17 July.

After three months, officials decided to release him after further review of his case.

Legal case

On December 18, 2006, Vance filed suit against the US government and the former US Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, on grounds that he was tortured and his rights of habeas corpus were violated. He is being represented by Arthur Loevy, Jon Loevy and Michael Kanovitz of the law firm Loevy & Loevy.
His suit against the US government and Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...

 allege that he was subject to the following unlawful procedures:
  1. false arrest
  2. unlawful detention
  3. unlawful search and seizure
  4. denial of right to counsel in interrogations - coerced statements
  5. denial of Sixth Amendment right to counsel
  6. denial of right to confront adverse witnesses
  7. denial of right to present witnesses and evidence, and to have exculpatory evidence disclosed
  8. unlawful conditions of detention
  9. denial of necessary medical care
  10. denial of property without due process


On September 21, 2007, Vance testified before a Senate Democratic Policy Committee on abuses in private security and reconstruction in Iraq during a hearing on Capitol Hill. He spoke about several events such as Shield Group Security
Shield Group Security
Shield Groups Security was an Iraqi company that provided protection for businesses and organizations. It was established in 2003 and switched its name to National Shield Security sometime after April 2006. According to the NSS's website, it has performed security services for infrastructure...

 brokering a deal with the South Korean government for small arms. He also spoke about Shield Group selling small arms to people operating within the U.S State Dept. During the proceeding Senator Byron Dorgan
Byron Dorgan
Byron Leslie Dorgan is a former United States Senator from North Dakota and is now a senior policy advisor for a Washington, DC law firm. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. In the Senate, he was Chairman of the Democratic...

 who chaired the committee asked Vance to turn over documents reflecting these weapon sales. Vance stated he would do so and also include hundreds of other pages including emails, photos and other documents reflecting SGS's criminal activities.

On September 26, 2007 during an Appropriations Committee hearing, Senator Byron Dorgan asked Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates to investigate the detention of Donald Vance. Senator Dorgan also relayed during the committee hearing that he has submitted a request to the inspector generals office for a complete investigation. Sen. Dorgan called Vance's detention by the U.S military "frightening".

External links

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