Along with other soldiers of her Army Reserve unit, the 372nd Military Police Company, she was accused of allowing and inflicting physical and psychological abuse on Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, a notorious prison in Baghdad during the United States' occupation of Iraq.

[2] Harman consistently acknowledged a fear that the abuses being committed at Abu Ghraib, both during her time at the facility,[3] and afterwards during her sentencing,[4] would be a cause for the rise of further radicalization in the region, as would later be seen in the formation of groups such as ISIL.

[5] After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Harman joined the Army Reserve and was assigned to the Cresaptown, Maryland-based 372nd Military Police company.

She was depicted in several of the most notorious photos taken at Abu Ghraib in late October and early November 2003, and she is accused of taking other pictures.

I ended your letter last night because it was time to wake the MI prisoners and "mess with them" but it went too far even I can't handle whats going on.

I walk down stairs after blowing the whistle and beating on the cells with an asp [expandable baton] to find "the taxicab driver" handcuffed backwards to his window with some underwear over his head and face.

She said her military police unit took direction from the military intelligence officers in charge of the facility and from civilian contractors there who conducted interrogations.In 2005, Harman was convicted on six of the seven counts she had been initially charged with, which related to the maltreatment of detainees, conspiracy relating to abuse, and dereliction of duty;[7] She was sentenced to six months in prison the following day, for which she would serve approximately four months due to credit for time already served.

[4] Despite the gravity of the accusations involved, Harman received a fairly light sentence, serving just four months in prison.

Throughout the case, various individuals, including two former prisoners at Abu Ghraib, proclaimed her innocent nature submitting testimonies in her defense, which were officially accepted by the court.

These prisoners noted Harman’s 'gentle' treatment of detainees, something unusual compared to other guards at the facility,[4] who generally saw the prisoners as more or less as a proxy for military intelligence – “She has no cruelty in her, even though she is an American woman, she was just like a sister.”[4] Her defense attorney, Frank Spinner, said: “I felt very strongly in Sabrina Harman, I feel she’s a very naive, very innocent person.

My actions potentially caused an increased hatred and insurgency towards the United States, putting soldiers and civilians at greater risk.

"[10]On February 4, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces unanimously upheld Harman's convictions.