Steven Stefanowicz - Activity Related To Abu Ghraib

Activity Related To Abu Ghraib

Stefanowicz was "a contract interrogator for the 205th Intelligence Brigade." He was known in the prison by the nickname "Big Steve". It has been alleged that he ordered and oversaw abusive interrogations which some have labelled as torture.

According to the New York Times, "In mid-August, a team of civilian interrogators led by Steven Stephanowicz, a former Navy petty officer and an employee of a Virginia company called CACI International, began work at Abu Ghraib under a classified one-year military contract. ... Their job was to conduct interrogations in conjunction with military police and military intelligence units, according to a company memorandum."

In the report by Major General Antonio M. Taguba regarding the alleged acts of brutality, abuse, and torture at the Enemy Prisoner of War facility at Abu Ghraib and other Enemy Prisoner of War Camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, Taguba said, "'Specifically I suspect that Col. Thomas M. Pappas, Lt. Col. Steve L. Jordan, Mr. Steven Stephanowicz and Mr. John Israel were either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib and strongly recommend immediate disciplinary actions ..."

In an interview with a military investigator, Col. Thomas Poppas described Stefanowicz as "out of control" in his commission of abuses. Poppas claims to have spoken to his superiors about this multiple times.

Taguba said that Stefanowicz "should be given an official reprimand, have reviewed, and, in the case of Stephanowicz, have his security clearance revoked and his employment as a civilian contractor terminated."

However, the online diary of another CACI interrogator at Abu Ghraib, Joe Ryan, reveals that a "Steve Stefanowicz" was still working at the prison on April 26, 2004, suggesting that Taguba's conclusions were ignored until the prison abuse scandal broke in the media.