Samuel Provance

Who is Samuel Provance?

Samuel Provance is a former U.S. Army military intelligence sergeant, known for disobeying an order from his commanders in the 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion by discussing with the media his experiences at the Abu Ghraib Prison, where he was assigned from September 2003 to February 2004. After being disciplined for his actions, he eventually brought his case to the United States Government in February 2006, resulting in a Congressional subpoena of the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The main points of his testimony are that military intelligence soldiers and contracted civilian interrogators had abused detainees, that they directed the military police to abuse detainees, the extent of this knowledge at the prison, and the subsequent cover-up of these practices when investigated.

Military intelligence soldiers from the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, with firsthand knowledge, had in fact spoken with the media weeks before Provance did, which corroborate his claims, saying they wanted to "do what's right ... get the truth out," but they chose to remain anonymous, "because of concern that their military careers would be ruined." In addition, the military police themselves said they were ordered and encouraged by interrogators to treat detainees harshly, to "soften" them up for interrogations, and were commended by their commander for doing so.