Megan Ambuhl (born ) 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.

Early life

Ambuhl was born in Centreville, Virginia. She graduated from high school in 1992 and attended Coastal Carolina University, where she received an Associate of Science degree in biology.

In May 2003, Ambuhl and the 372nd Company arrived in Kuwait, proceeding north to Al Hillah in Iraq, where the company "was responsible for, among other things, assisting and training the Iraqi Police in the surrounding area."</blockquote>

In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, Volzer was quoted as saying:

<blockquote>They don't have a case against her. They really don't ... She's not in any of the photographs you've seen or in any of the ones you haven't. She's not mentioned in any of the statements of doing anything other than being there. She's being charged because everybody on the night shift was being charged.</blockquote>

Ambuhl appears in several of the photos relating to the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, published by Salon.com in March 2006, observing the incidents of abuse or administering injections. However, none of the photographs published by Salon appear to show her directly engaged in prisoner abuse.

As part of a plea agreement, Specialist Ambuhl was convicted by court-martial on October 30, 2004, for dereliction of duty. In punishment, she was demoted to Private, discharged from the Army, and docked half a month's pay. Additional charges brought against Ambuhl were dropped following a pretrial guilty plea but had included allegations of conspiracy, maltreatment, and indecent acts. She was the third MP reservist and fourth U.S. soldier convicted in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

Marriage to Charles Graner

thumb|right|200px|Ambuhl's later husband [[Charles Graner and Sabrina Harman with naked and hooded prisoners who were forced to form a human pyramid]]

In April 2005, she married Charles Graner, who was serving time for his role in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Graner had earlier been in a relationship with another soldier, Lynndie England and had one child with her.

Because Ambuhl was not permitted to see him for the first 2½ years of his incarceration, it was a proxy wedding.

From 2005 onwards, she ran the now-defunct website, www.supportmpscapegoats.com (archived link), where she posted documents in support of her husband's innocence. In a Washington Post web interview, she also stated: "[Graner] should be let out now because he and the others in prison have served more prison time than any other soldier sentenced for similar cases [...] including murders."

See also

References

  • Support MP Scapegoats - Ambuhl's website (Archive)