Abu Ghraib prison in the context of Abu Ghraib

Psychological torture, mental torture or emotional torture is a type of torture that relies primarily on psychological effects and only secondarily on any physical harm inflicted. Although not all psychological torture involves the use of physical violence, there is a continuum between psychological torture and physical torture. The two are often used in conjunction with one another and often overlap in practice, with the fear and pain induced by physical torture often resulting in long-term psychological effects and many forms of psychological torture involving some form of pain or coercion.

During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency were accused of a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These abuses included physical abuse, sexual humiliation, physical and psychological torture, and rape, as well as the killing of Manadel al-Jamadi and the desecration of his body. The abuses came to public attention with the publication of photographs by CBS News in April 2004, causing shock and outrage and receiving widespread condemnation within the United States and internationally.

The George W. Bush administration stated that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were isolated incidents and not indicative of U.S. policy. This was disputed by humanitarian organizations including the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, who claimed the abuses were part of a pattern of torture and brutal treatment at American overseas detention centers, including those in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). After 36 prisoners were killed at Abu Ghraib in insurgent mortar attacks, the United States was further criticized for maintaining the facility in a combat zone. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that most detainees at Abu Ghraib were civilians with no links to armed groups.

Lynndie Rana England (born November 8, 1982) is a former United States Army Reserve soldier who was prosecuted for mistreating detainees during the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad during the Iraq War. She was one of 11 military personnel from the 372nd Military Police Company who were convicted in 2005 for war crimes. After being sentenced to three years in prison and a dishonorable discharge, England was incarcerated from September 27, 2005, to March 1, 2007, when she was released on parole.

Megan Ambuhl (born 1974 or 1975) is a former United States Army Reserve soldier who was convicted of dereliction of duty for her role in the prisoner abuse that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison, a notorious prison in Baghdad during the United States' occupation of Iraq.

The Hooded Man (or The Man on the Box) is an image showing a prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison with wires attached to his fingers, standing on a box with a covered head. The photo has been portrayed as an iconic photograph of the Iraq War, "the defining image of the scandal" and "symbol of the torture at Abu Ghraib". The image, first revealed to the public on CBS's 60 Minutes II program on 28 April 2004, was later published on the cover of The Economist's 8 May 2004 issue, as the opening photo of The New Yorker on 10 May 2004, and on the front page of The New York Times on 11 March 2006.

The man in the photo was initially reported to be Ali Shallal al-Qaisi but the online magazine Salon.com later raised doubts about his identity. It was later reported that although al-Qaisi was photographed in a similar position, the actual Hooded Man was Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh, nicknamed Gilligan.

Manadel al-Jamadi (Arabic: مناضل الجمادي) was an Iraqi national who was killed by being suspended by his wrists with his hands cuffed behind his back, a position condemned by human rights groups as torture, while he was in United States custody during a Central Intelligence Agency interrogation at Abu Ghraib prison on November 4, 2003. A military autopsy by the United States Army found al-Jamadi's death a homicide. In 2011, United States Attorney General Eric Holder said that he had opened a full criminal investigation into al-Jamadi's death. In August 2012, Holder announced that no criminal charges would be brought.

Al-Jamadi had been a suspect in a bomb attack that killed 34 people, including one US soldier, and left more than 200 wounded in a Baghdad Red Cross facility. His name became known in 2004 when the Abu Ghraib scandal made headlines; his corpse packed in ice was the background for widely reprinted photographs of U.S. Army specialists Sabrina Harman and Charles Graner each offering a "thumbs-up" gesture.