Donald Vance

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Donald Vance is a American civilian who was held in detention at Camp Cropper, the United States military's maximum-security detention site in Baghdad for ninety seven days beginning in April 2006.^[1] He is currently in a legal suit against the former defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, on grounds that his constitutional rights had been violated.^[1] He is being represented by Arthur Loevy, Jon Loevy and Michael Kanovitz of the law firm Loevy & Loevy.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Background

The then 29-year-old Navy veteran from Chicago had gone to Iraq as a security contractor.^[1] He became a whistle-blower for the F.B.I., informing them that the Iraqi security firm at which he worked had been engaged in possibly illegal weapons trading, particularly to officials from the Iraqi Interior Ministry.^[1]

However, when American soldiers raided the firm, he was mistaken for a suspect. Another American who worked for the company, but had resigned over the alleged weapons trading, was also detained.^[1]

[edit] Incarceration

During his time in prison he claimed he was subject to interrogation and sleep deprivation techniques.^[1] A Pentagon 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.^[1] 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".^[1] 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.^[1] Two weeks into his dentention, he was allowed to phone his fiancee in Chicago, who had already informed her Congressional representative of his apparent disappearance.^[1] He wrote ten letters home, one of which arrived in November 2006 dated 17 July.^[1]