Joe Darby

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Sergeant Joseph M. Darby (born c. 1979), of Corriganville, Maryland, is best known as the whistleblower in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. Darby is a graduate of North Star High School, near his hometown at the time, Jenners, Pennsylvania.[1]

At the time, Darby was a U.S. Army Reservist who served as an M.P. at the Abu Ghraib prison, in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. After learning of the abuse, Darby was the first person to take steps to alert the U.S. military command.

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[edit] Disclosure of abuses at Abu Ghraib

In January 2004, Darby provided a compact disc of photographs and an anonymous note to Special Agent Tyler Pieron of the US Army Criminal Investigation Command, who was stationed at Abu Ghraib Prison, triggering an investigation which led to the implication of several soldiers violating the Geneva Convention. Darby initially wanted to remain anonymous — he and those implicated all served in the 372nd Military Police Company, but became known after Donald Rumsfeld publicly named him during a Senate hearing.[2] Darby had agonized for a month beforehand, but finally decided to blow the whistle on his former friends explaining "It violated everything I personally believed in and all I'd been taught about the rules of war." He had known Lynndie England, one of the most well-known suspects, since basic training. He testified that he had received the photos from Charles Graner, another soldier in the photographs.

[edit] Reactions

The disclosure was not received well by the community from which Darby and his wife, Bernadette, were living in Maryland.[3] They have been shunned by friends and neighbors, their property has been vandalized, and they now reside in protective military custody at an undisclosed location. Bernadette said, "We did not receive the response I thought we would. People were, they were mean, saying he was a walking dead man, he was walking around with a bull's-eye on his head. It was scary."[4]

On the other hand, CBS reports that former neighbors from one of his childhood homes in Pennsylvania were proud of him[5] Darby has also said that soldiers in his unit shook his hand afterward.[6]

[edit] Recognition

On May 7, 2004, Darby was profiled as the "Person of the Week" by anchor Peter Jennings on ABC's World News Tonight, and in December 2004, he was selected as one of three ABC News "People of the Year". He was profiled and interviewed by Anderson Cooper on the December 10, 2006 broadcast of 60 Minutes (the segment was aired again on June 24, 2007).

Darby received a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on May 16, 2005, in recognition of his courage in exposing the abuses at Abu Ghraib.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "One Soldier's Unlikely Act Family Fears for Man Who Reported Iraqi Prisoner Abuse" Washington Post. May 6, 2004.
  2. ^ unbossed.com » Thank You, Joseph Darby
  3. ^ When Joseph Comes Marching Home (washingtonpost.com)
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ Praise For Iraq Whistleblower, Neighbors Are Proud Of Spc. Joe Darby For Reporting Prison Abuse - CBS News
  6. ^ Dawn Bryan. "The Abu Ghraib whistleblower's ordeal", BBC News, August 5, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-05. 
  7. ^ [2][dead link]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

News clips

Persondata
NAME Darby, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION U.S. Marine Sargeant and whistleblower
DATE OF BIRTH circa 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Corriganville, Maryland
DATE OF DEATH living
PLACE OF DEATH