http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040516204909990002 Congress Members Told of Abuse Months Ago By DAVID DISHNEAU, AP AP Jo Ann Frederick (here at home in Oakland, Md.) wrote on Feb. 24 to Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., and Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md. HAGERSTOWN, Md. (May 16) - Two months before pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse became public, the family of one accused soldier wrote to 14 members of Congress that "something went wrong" involving "mistreatment of POWs" at Abu Ghraib prison. Separately, a suspended Army officer in Iraq wrote to Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania that he was being unfairly punished after "pictures of naked prisoners" were discovered. He sent the letter six weeks before the CBS program "60 Minutes II" first broadcast photographs of the prisoners on April 28. The strongest reply any of them got was a note saying what they already knew - that the Army was investigating, according to documents released last week by Specter's office and the family of Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick. Frederick, of the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company, faces a general court-martial on charges of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees and wrongfully committing an indecent act. In late February, his family sent letters or e-mails to 11 Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, plus three of their local congressional members and Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, seeking information on Frederick's status, said Frederick's uncle, William W. Lawson, of Newburg, W.Va. A Feb. 23 letter from Lawson to Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia said Frederick was relieved of prison-guard duty without explanation Jan. 14, two days before the Army publicly announced a criminal investigation of alleged prisoner mistreatment. "At some point, something went wrong at the prison related to mistreatment of POWs," Lawson wrote. Rockefeller responded on March 2 that the Army could not act on the request unless it came from Frederick's wife or mother. Mark Ferrell, a spokesman for Rockefeller, said the letters sent on behalf of Frederick were "consistent with what had been in the news about a Pentagon inquiry into prisoner abuse but gave no indication that widespread abuse existed." Still, he said, several people on Rockefeller's staff have had telephone conversations with Lawson since receiving his letter in February. "The senator is eager to talk to Mr. Lawson and tried to call him last week but didn't reach him," Ferrell said. Warner's spokeswoman, Ellen Qualls, said Sunday that the governor's office has found no record of a letter written by Frederick's family about the former corrections officer. "I'm unaware of it," Qualls said. Frederick's mother, Jo Ann Frederick, wrote on Feb. 24 to Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., and Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md. Sarbanes replied on Feb. 27 that he had "written to the appropriate officials" and would contact her when he received a reply. Bartlett forwarded to her a response he received from the Army, saying that "inquiry into this matter has been initiated." On March 18, Lt. Col. Jerry Phillabaum, formerly second-in-command at Abu Ghraib, wrote an e-mail to Specter mentioning "digital pictures of naked prisoners," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday. At the time, Phillabaum had been suspended as commander of the 320th Military Police Battalion while Army investigators probed the alleged abuse. He has since been reprimanded and relieved of command. In the letter, Phillabaum sought Specter's help in expediting the investigation so he could return to his family in Lansdale, Pa. Specter's office released copies of its electronic correspondence with Phillabaum and his family last week. In a statement accompanying the e-mails, Specter's office said it paid little attention to the Abu Ghraib references because "Phillabaum stated an investigation was underway," the Inquirer reported. 05/16/04 19:42 EDT Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. The
America Betrays Itself by Gene Lyons To anybody with more than a child's understanding of history, the most remarkable thing about wartime atrocities is that anybody pretends surprise. As Orwell pointed out in an essay written around the end of WW II, there had been scarcely a year during his adult life when terrible crimes against humanity weren't being reported somewhere in the world. Yet people, particularly intellectuals, tended to believe or disbelieve the ugly truth depending upon their own nationality and political ideology. "The nationalist," he wrote "not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them. For not quite six years the English admirers of Hitler contrived not to learn of the existence of Dachau and Buchenwald. And those who are loudest in denouncing the German concentration camps are often quite unaware, or only very dimly aware, that there are also concentration camps in Russia." For the record, Orwell had nothing against patriotism, defined as love of country. By "nationalism," he meant blind chauvinism, specifically "identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good or evil," and thinking "solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige." In short, primitive tribalism writ large. Here in the United States, anyway, things were different. Since few Americans ever put faith in right- or left-wing creeds of militarized utopianism to begin with, the crimes of the Nazis and Soviets were more easily perceived. Committed to the proposition that "all men are created equal," to a written constitution and a government of laws, our own kind of denial has consisted largely of forgetfulness. Whether it's the 19th century extermination of Native Americans, the use of nuclear weapons against Japan, or the massacres at My Lai, what historians call American "exceptionalism"--the sentimental belief that the United States exists above temptation and outside history--helps us to reassert the national innocence again and again. Even mentioning Hiroshima all but guarantees furious rebuttals invoking Pearl Harbor and 9/11, which, no, I haven't forgotten. Yet it's symptomatic that within a year of the Toledo Blade's Pulitzer Prize-winning series documenting previously unreported massacres of Vietnamese civilians by the U.S. Army in the late 1960s, Sen. John Kerry's testimony about Vietnam War atrocities to a Senate committee in 1971 can be used against him as an issue in a 2004 presidential campaign. Unlike another candidate I could name, he was right and he was courageous. To the extent other nations have forgiven the United States its excesses and still see it as a beacon of freedom, it has nothing to do with being "God's country." Rather, it's the ideals of free speech, due process and equality under the law embedded in our constitution. They help Americans rise above tribalism; the most moving account of Japanese civilians’ suffering was American John Hersey's "Hiroshima," an instant classic. Nor did it take an invading army to expose atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers at My Lai, and to bring some semblance of justice. It took an American journalist, Seymour Hersh, and American courts of law. Which brings us to the offenses against humanity committed by American soldiers and civilians at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Once again, the indefatigable Hersh, writing in the New Yorker, got the story. This time, moreover, there's undeniable evidence in the form of digital photos and videotapes shot by U.S. soldiers and sent via e-mail to computers back home. (Will a technologically-advanced nation ever again be able to brutalize a captive population with impunity?) It's one thing to read the dehumanizing details in Major General Antonio M. Taguba's report: Iraqi citizens (70 to 90 percent arrested by mistake, the Red Cross estimates), beaten, forced to masturbate and simulate sex acts, sodomized with broomsticks, raped, attacked by guard dogs, even murdered. It's another thing to see the pictures. Even the most fervid chauvinists can't deny the evidence of their senses. What’s more, no less an authority than Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says it's going to get much worse. The shame is bad enough, but the bad political consequences have scarcely begun. The worst atrocities took place during the U.S. government's futile search for non-existent "weapons of mass destruction" used to justify invading Iraq. No evidence has been found linking Iraq and al Qaeda. Yet there’s no doubt badly-trained, undisciplined U.S. troops encouraged to "go cowboy" on Iraqi prisoners imagined themselves avenging 9/11. President Bush's sly rhetoric assured it. This time, moreover, the world's faith in American institutions has been badly damaged. The Bush administration has systematically insisted that neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Geneva Convention applies to anybody the president calls an "enemy combatant," which in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib atrocities appears to include the entire Muslim world. It's a betrayal of everything it means to be an American.
This could get even uglier. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...9may19,1,6028530.story?coll=la-home-headlines 3 Witnesses at Iraq Abuse Hearing Refused to Testify By Richard A. Serrano, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — Three key witnesses, including a senior officer in charge of interrogations, refused to testify during a secret hearing against an alleged ringleader of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal on the grounds that they might incriminate themselves. The witnesses appeared April 26 at a preliminary hearing behind closed doors for Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr., who has been identified in court-martial documents as the leader of a band of military police guards who humiliated and abused Iraqi detainees and compiled a bizarre photographic record of their activities. The prospective witnesses' refusal to testify is described in court-martial documents obtained by The Times on Tuesday. That all of the prospective witnesses called up by prosecutors invoked the military equivalent of the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination indicates that key players in the abuse scandal may be closing ranks to save themselves and one another. The documents show, however, that the military judge presiding over the hearing was undaunted by the unwillingness of anyone to step forward and speak about Graner . . .
Brutal interrogation in Iraq Five detainees' deaths probed By Miles Moffeit Denver Post Staff Writer Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - Brutal interrogation techniques by U.S. military personnel are being investigated in connection with the deaths of at least five Iraqi prisoners in war-zone detention camps, Pentagon documents obtained by The Denver Post show. The deaths include the killing in November of a high-level Iraqi general who was shoved into a sleeping bag and suffocated, according to the Pentagon report. The documents contradict an earlier Defense Department statement that said the general died "of natural causes" during an interrogation. Pentagon officials declined to comment on the new disclosure. Another Iraqi military officer, records show, was asphyxiated after being gagged, his hands tied to the top of his cell door. Another detainee died "while undergoing stress technique interrogation," involving smothering and "chest compressions," according to the documents. Details of the death investigations, involving at least four different detention facilities including the Abu Ghraib prison, provide the clearest view yet into war-zone interrogation rooms, where intelligence soldiers and other personnel have sometimes used lethal tactics to try to coax secrets from prisoners, including choking off detainees' airways. Other abusive strategies involve sitting on prisoners or bending them into uncomfortable positions, records show. "Torture is the only thing you can call this," said a Pentagon source with knowledge of internal investigations into prisoner abuses. "There is a lot about our country's interrogation techniques that is very troubling. These are violations of military law." Internal records obtained by The Post point to wider problems beyond the Abu Ghraib prison and demonstrate that some coercive tactics used at Abu Ghraib have shown up in interrogations elsewhere in the war effort. The documents also show more than twice as many allegations of detainee abuse - 75 - are being investigated by the military than previously known. Twenty-seven of the abuse cases involve deaths; at least eight are believed to be homicides. No criminal punishments have been announced in the interrogation deaths, even though three deaths occurred last year. Beyond the interrogation deaths, the military documents show that investigators are examining other abuse cases involving soldiers using choking techniques during interrogations, including the handling of prisoners at a detention facility in Samarra, Iraq, where soldiers allegedly "forced into asphyxiation numerous detainees." Also under investigation are reports that soldiers in Iraq abused women and children. One April 2003 case, which is awaiting trial, involves a reservist who pointed a loaded pistol at an Iraqi child in front of witnesses, saying he should kill the youngster to "send a message" to other Iraqis. Pentagon officials, asked to comment on synopses of the cases provided by The Post, released a statement saying they do not discuss ongoing investigations. "Make no mistake; we will take whatever corrective actions are determined to be appropriate," the statement said. "The offenders will be dealt with, and action will be taken to prevent such situations from happening again." Military officials and the Bush administration face international scrutiny over the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, which entailed a range of physical assault, mental abuse and sexual humiliation by military police officers. The role of military intelligence personnel in abuse cases has been murky. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that an American officer who led interrogations at the prison acknowledged that intelligence personnel sometimes instructed military police to mete out abuse. In the case of Iraqi Major General Abed Hamed Mowhoush, who headed Saddam Hussein's air force, intelligence officers' role was documented in abuse that soon turned fatal, documents show, Mowhoush, considered a "high-priority target," turned himself in for questioning in November, according to documents. After two weeks in custody at an Al Qaim detention facility, northwest of Baghdad, two soldiers with the 66th Military Intelligence Company, slid a sleeping bag over his body, except for his feet, and began questioning him as they rolled him repeatedly from his back to his stomach, the documents show. Then, one of the soldiers, an interrogator, sat on Mowhoush's chest and placed his hands over the prisoner's mouth, according to the report: "During this interrogation, the (general) became non-responsive, medics were called and he was later pronounced dead." According to the documents, "The preliminary report lists the cause of death as asphyxia due to smothering and chest compressions." Immediately after Mowhoush's death was reported, U.S. military officials released a statement acknowledging he died during an interview. "Mowhoush said he didn't feel well and subsequently lost consciousness," read the press statement, which is still posted on a Pentagon website. "The soldier questioning him found no pulse, then conducted CPR and called for medical authorities. According to the on-site surgeon, it appeared Mowhouse died of natural causes." An investigative report was finalized in late January, and the interrogating soldiers received reprimands, in addition to being barred from further interviews, documents show. According to the report obtained by The Post, commanders have not taken criminal action against the soldiers, citing an ongoing investigation. Criminal punishments apparently have not been pursued in the other interrogation-death cases, which also are ongoing. Another Iraqi prisoner was assaulted by interrogators on two occasions in early January of this year at the FOB Rifles Base in Asad, Iraq, documents state. U.S. forces arrested him for allegedly possessing explosive devices, and he was later placed in an isolation cell for questioning by special-forces soldiers with the Operational Detachment Alpha, where he was shackled to a pipe that ran along the ceiling. After he was allowed to sit, he lunged at one of the soldiers, grabbing his shirt. "The three ODA members punched and kicked (the prisoner) in the stomach and ribs for approximately one to two minutes," documents show. Three days later, the prisoner escaped from his cell and was recaptured. During questioning, the detainee refused to follow instructions. When he refused orders to remain quiet in his cell, his hands were tied to the top of his cell door, the report shows. When he still refused, he was gagged, the report notes, and five minutes later, a soldier "noticed that he was slumped down and hanging from his shackles" dead. According to the investigative report, special forces commanders are reviewing "consideration of misconduct" in the case. Other prisoner deaths under homicide investigation, records show: The beating in early April of a detainee at the LSA Diamondback facility in Mosul, Iraq, who was found dead in his sleep. A death report showed "blunt- force trauma to the torso and positional asphyxia." He had gone to sleep immediately after questioning by members of the Naval Special Warfare Team. No disciplinary action was noted in the report, but the investigation continues, the report states. In June, at a "classified interrogation facility" in Baghdad, an Iraqi detainee was found dead after being restrained in a chair for questioning. "While in custody the detainee was subjected to both physical and psychological stress," the report shows. An autopsy determined that he died of a "hard, fast blow" to the head. The investigation continues. No disciplinary action was noted. On Nov. 4, an Iraqi died at Abu Ghraib during an interview by special forces and Navy SEAL soldiers. "An autopsy revealed the cause of death was blunt force trauma as complicated by compromised respiration." The report notes that Navy investigators concluded Navy personnel did not commit a crime leading to the detainee's death. But the investigation, including by CIA officials, is still ongoing. No disciplinary action was noted. Amid a storm of controversy over prisoner handling in recent weeks, U.S. military officials have launched eight separate internal investigations into abuse cases, administrative procedures and interrogation techniques. They also have acknowledged that reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib violate the Geneva Conventions and other treaties. According to Human Rights Watch, which monitors prisoner maltreatment around the world, the patterns of interrogation tactics known as "stress techniques" in the death cases is tantamount to torture and should be investigated by an "independent" body or government. "It sounds as though the Iraqi general and others were being subjected to extreme techniques we are only just now learning about, and it's clearly cruel and degrading treatment," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "This highlights the need for independent scrutiny at a minimum by Congress or possibly an independent commission of inquiry." Of the detainee cases that were not homicides, commanders typically handed down lenient job-related punishments to the accused, instead of seeking criminal convictions. Of 47 punishments given to those accused of prisoner abuse, according to the report, only 15 involved court-martial. Criminal penalties ranged from reprimands to 60 days' confinement. Unlike civilian practices, in the military, commanders decide whether to send accused soldiers to trial. Alleged abuses Military investigations regarding allegations of Iraqi detainee abuse: April 12, 2004: Member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force abused a detainee involved in shooting death of a Marine lieutenant and sergeant. During interrogation, detainee was kicked in the rib cage, punched in kidney area and slapped in the head. Incident being investigated. Jan. 9, 2004: FOB Rifles Base detainee died while in custody. The detainee, an escapee who had been recaptured, was shackled to the door of his cell with his hands over his head and gagged. Five minutes later, he was found dead. The death is under investigation. Dec. 31, 2003: Military police officer used butt of M-4 rifle to strike a detainee in the face and on the back of the neck. Then the officer placed the muzzle of his M-4 rifle in the detainee's mouth and pulled trigger on the empty weapon. Officer then chambered a round and pointed the rifle at detainee, firing a round 5 or 6 feet from detainee. The incident is under investigation. Nov. 26, 2003: At the 3rd ACR detention facility, Iraqi Gen. Abed Hamad Mowhoush, a "high-priority target," was placed inside a sleeping bag with only his feet exposed. He was rolled back and forth while being questioned. One of the interrogators sat on his chest and placed hands over his mouth. He died during the interrogation, and an autopsy confirmed evidence of blunt force trauma to the chest and legs. The interrogating officers were given general officer reprimands, prohibited from conducting further interrogations and referred for consideration of misconduct charges. Sept. 11, 2003: A guard at the FOB Packhorse detention facility fatally shot a detainee who was throwing rocks. The soldier, who did not follow regulations, was reduced in rank and discharged from the military in lieu of trial by court-martial. June 13, 2003: A sergeant beat a detainee while his squad leader was present. Sergeant received rank reduction and 60 days' confinement. His commanding officer - who also beat detainees - was charged with dereliction of duty, given a reprimand and fined $2,000.
Yet another disk of abuses has been found. MSNBC News Services Updated: 3:46 p.m. ET May 19, 2004 WASHINGTON - The top military commander in Iraq told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. personnel who have received relatively light punishment in the prisoner abuse scandal may yet face criminal charges. Meantime, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee revealed that the Pentagon has recovered another disk containing more photos of prisoner abuse. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said that as the investigation into prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad and elsewhere progresses, others who have received reprimands or not faced any punishment may be charged. “We may find that the evidence produced in these investigations not only leads to more courts-martial, but causes us to revisit actions previously taken ... in cases which may have been handled to date by adverse administrative action,” he said at a hearing that examined a broad range of issues, including prospects for a smooth transfer of political control to an interim Iraqi government on June 30. Sanchez was joined at the hearing by Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, deputy commander for detainee operations in Iraq. Lawmakers to view new photos Early in the hearing, Chairman John Warner, R-Va., announced that another disk containing photos of prisoner abuse had been found and said that a procedure was being worked out for lawmakers to see them. More disks were put on display at the Capitol last week, and the pictures elicited shock from lawmakers, who said they saw Iraqi prisoners forced into sexually humiliating positions. In other testimony, Sanchez, the top commander of ground troops in Iraq, vowed that the investigation of abuse at Abu Ghraib will follow the chain of command, adding, "and that includes me." Abizaid, who is responsible for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, also told the committee that the military will address "systemic problems" at the prison. "We will follow the trail of evidence wherever it leads," he said. "We will continue to correct systemic problems. We will hold people accountable and, in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, we will take appropriate action." "From evidence already gathered, we believe that systemic problems existed at the prison and may have contributed to events there," he said. Sanchez, Abizaid and Miller all denied approving abusive interrogation techniques to soften up Iraqi prisoners but acknowledged there may have been confusion at lower levels of the U.S. military. timeline Prisoner abuse in Iraq Key dates in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal Aug. 31-Sept. 9, 2003 Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who runs the military prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, conducts an inquiry on interrogation and detention procedures in Iraq. He suggests that prison guards can help set conditions for the interrogation of prisoners. October-December Many of the alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib take place during this time period. Oct. 13-Nov. 6 Maj. Gen. Donald Ryder, provost marshal of the Army, investigates conditions of U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib. He finds problems throughout the prisons. Some units, including the 800th Military Police Brigade, did not receive adequate training to guard prisons, he notes. He also says military police (MPs) should not assist in making prisoners more pliable to interrogation, as their job is to keep prisoners safe. Nov. 19 The 205th Military Intelligence Brigade is given responsibility for Abu Ghraib prison and authority over the 800th Military Police Brigade. November Two Iraqi detainees die in separate incidents that involved CIA interrogation officers. Jan. 13, 2004 Army Spc. Joseph M. Darby, an MP with the 800th at Abu Ghraib, first reports cases of abuse at the prison. Jan. 16 Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez orders a criminal investigation into reports of abuse at the prison by members of the brigade. The military also announces the investigation publicly. Jan. 19 Sanchez orders a separate administrative investigation into the 800th MP Brigade. Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba is appointed to conduct that inquiry on Jan. 31. Late January - early February President Bush becomes aware of the charges sometime in this time period, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan, although the spokesman has not pinpointed a date. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld tells Bush of the charges, McClellan has said. Feb. 23 Seventeen U.S. soldiers suspended from duties pending outcome of investigation. Feb. 24 International Committee of the Red Cross provides the Coalition Authority with a confidential report on detention in Iraq. Portions of the report are published without ICRC consent by the Wall Street Journal on May 7. March 3-9 Taguba presents his report to his commanders. He finds widespread abuse of prisoners by military police and military intelligence. He also agrees with Ryder that guards should not play any role in the interrogation of prisoners. March 20 Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt tells reporters six military personnel have been charged with criminal offenses. Mid April Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asks CBS-TV to delay airing photographs it has obtained of abuse at Abu Ghraib. Myers says the photos would exacerbate an intense period of violence under way in Iraq. CBS delays its program for two weeks. April 28 Rumsfeld meets with senators in a closed briefing on the war in Iraq. Rumsfeld neglects to mention the issue of prisoner abuse or the coming disclosure of photos. CBS “60 Minutes II” airs the photos, setting off an international outcry. Bush first learns about these photos from the television report, his aides say. Early May CIA confirms that some of its officers hid Iraqi prisoners from watchdog groups like the Red Cross. May 1 An article by Seymour Hersh, published on The New Yorker magazine's Web site, reveals contents of Taguba's report. May 2 Myers admits on ABC’s "This Week" that he has not yet read the Taguba report issued in March. May 3 Officials say the Army has reprimanded seven soldiers in the abuse of inmates at Abu Ghraib. May 4 U.S. Army discloses that it is conducting criminal investigations of 10 prisoner deaths in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Iraq - beyond two already ruled homicides - plus another 10 abuse cases. (The number grows by two on May 5, when the CIA says it is investigating more cases.) May 5 President Bush appears on two Arab television channels to address the scandal but does not apologize for the abuse of iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops. The following day Bush does apologize. May 6 The Washington Post publishes four additional photos. President Bush privately admonishes Rumsfeld for not keeping him informed about the issue. May 7 Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on the issue of prisoner abuse in Iraq. Separately, Army Pfc. Lynndie England, shown in photographs smiling and pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners, is charged with assaulting detainees and conspiring to mistreat them. May 19 Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits receives the maximum penalty -- one year in prison, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge -- in the first court-martial stemming from mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. Source: Associated Press, MSNBC research, NBC News • Print this But asked by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., to explain what he called a “culture of abuse” in the prison system, Abizaid denied that any such culture existed. Abizaid also told the committee he took personal responsibility, but said the abuse would not deflect U.S. forces from their task in Iraq. Soldier pleads guilty, sentenced The hearing came as the first U.S. soldier to be tried in connection with the Abu Ghraib abuse pleaded guilty. A U.S. special court-martial in Iraq sentenced Spc. Jeremy Sivits to the maximum possible one year in prison and ordered him discharged from the army for bad conduct over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
These Iraqis are smarter than the US media, they see the trial for what it is. Their media however appears to be modeled on Fox and the NY Post... http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2004/0520/p01s03-woiq.html Abu Ghraib court-martial meets skepticism in Iraq Spc. Jeremy Sivits was sentenced Wednesday to one year in prison and discharged from the Army. By Annia Ciezadlo | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor BAGHDAD – Despite the maximum sentence doled out in Thursday's court-martial, the first of seven scheduled for American soldiers accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners, many Iraqis from all walks of life condemned the proceedings as an American show trial. From lawyers and government officials to old men sitting in coffee shops, many Iraqis demanded a trial run by international authorities or by Iraqis themselves. "The court-martial is a first step on the right path," said Ahmed al-Barrak, a lawyer and member of the US-appointed Governing Council. "But there's no role for the Iraqis, because he's an American citizen. We need someone from the Iraqi courts to visit the prisons, and take part in the trials to guarantee this won't happen again." Inside the heavily guarded Baghdad Convention Center, Spc. Jeremy Sivits was sentenced Wednesday to one year in prison and given a "bad conduct" discharge from the Army. Meanwhile, outside, several hundred Iraqis chanted, "Where are human rights?" and waved banners in protest of a process that most here see as little satisfaction for the humiliation so graphically depicted in pictures taken by American troops. By giving broad media access to the trial, US authorities had hoped that it would help salvage the image of US troops on the Iraqi street - especially with the presence of reporters from Iraqi newspapers and Arabic-language satellite channels. But Iraqis were widely skeptical of the trial, held by US military authorities. Even relatively pro-US Iraqis wanted a role in trying the soldiers, whom the US military does not consider subject to Iraqi civil law. Several days ago, Jawdat al-Obeidi, a former exile who lived in the US, held a conference of Iraqi sheikhs, politicians, and lawyers to discuss how Iraqis should respond to the scandal. "First, the prosecution should be Iraqi, and Americans should take part in the defense," said Mr. Obeidi, secretary-general of the Iraqi Democratic Congress, an umbrella group of Iraqi political parties. "And people present also should be Iraqis," he continues. "And it should be live on television, and it should be translated into Arabic. This will make Iraqis feel that the Americans respect the Iraqi citizens, that they respect the law and the people." Charges against Sivits Army Reserve Spc. Jeremy Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., pleaded guilty at a court-martial hearing in Baghdad Wednesday. He received the maximum sentence - one year in prison, reduction in rank, and a bad-conduct discharge. The charges were: • He maltreated subordinates by taking "a photograph of nude detainees being forced into a human pyramid position." • He "negligently failed to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty, and maltreatment, as it was his duty to do." • He "did maltreat a detainee, a person subject to his orders, by escorting the detainee to be positioned in a pile on the floor to be assaulted by other soldiers." Thursday, the court-martial got little play in local newspapers, which were dominated by graphic coverage of the abuses - some accurate, some wildly exaggerated, like the weekly that screamed "Preliminary investigations with Pentagon generals: Admission to raping 4,000 Iraqi women, gouging out eyes, cutting off hands and legs of those refusing to make confessions!" The US-funded Al Sabah offered the most coverage, printing the time and place.
Yet another prison abuse scandal? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5024068/?GT1=3391 New front in Iraq detainee abuse scandal? NBC News exclusive: Delta Force now subject of investigation at Baghdad airport location By Campbell Brown Correspondent NBC News Updated: 7:06 p.m. ET May 20, 2004BAGHDAD - With attention focused on the seven soldiers charged with abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, U.S. military and intelligence officials familiar with the situation tell NBC News the Army’s elite Delta Force is now the subject of a Pentagon inspector general investigation into abuse against detainees. The target is a top-secret site near Baghdad’s airport. The battlefield interrogation facility known as the “BIF” is pictured in satellite photos.
OK, now they are claiming the interrogation techniques are justified since they got one guy to fess up. Yet they are unable to cite one person who was arrested and convicted of any crime.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/iraq_prison_wardens_040520-1.html Exporting Abuse? Wardens Chosen to Establish Iraq Prison System Had Past Abuse Allegations By Brian Ross May 20, 2004 — A number of former state prison commissioners chosen by the Bush administration to establish a prison system in Iraq left their old posts after allegations of neglect, brutality and inmate deaths, an investigation by ABCNEWS has found. . . .
More photos shown: Soldiers posing with Iraqi's body WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating the death of an Abu Ghraib prison detainee whose body, packed in ice, is documented in photos that also show two American soldiers posing nearby with thumbs up, a U.S. official said Thursday. Spc. Sabrina Harman stands with the body of an Iraqi man. ABC News via AP The photos show Army Sgt. Charles A. Graner Jr. and Spc. Sabrina Harman, both of whom have already been charged in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal. They were shown first Wednesday by ABC-TV and on Thursday by the Arabic TV station Al-Arabiya. A U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the dead detainee as Manadel al-Jamadi. The official confirmed that al-Jamadi's death was among those being investigated for possible criminal violations by Justice Department prosecutors. The detainee, whose badly bruised corpse was in a body bag packed with ice, died in the prison's showers while being interrogated by the CIA or other civilian agents, ABC reported Wednesday. At least three such CIA cases have been referred by the agency to the Justice Department for prosecution, the official said. In an account published Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the victim had been brought to the prison with his head covered by an empty sandbag. It said he died in the midst of intensive questioning in the shower by military intelligence officials. After he collapsed, the interrogators removed the bag and then saw severe head wounds that had not been treated. Calls by The Associated Press on Thursday to Graner's lawyer, Guy Womack of Houston, and to Harman's attorney, Frank Spinner of Colorado Springs, were not immediately returned. Womack told ABC News the photo of his client represented inappropriate "gallows humor." Meanwhile, the Pentagon has told Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., that its criminal investigators in Baghdad were given a new photo diskette "under circumstances that warranted investigation, including forensic computer evaluation." The diskette contains 24 photos showing what appears to be abusive acts committed by U.S. forces. "Thirteen photographs appear to be images already seen on international television media," said Assistant Defense Secretary Powell Moore, in a letter to Warner. "The other 11 images have not been identified in previous investigations. They may not be original or true photographs." A Senate Republican aide said the senators would wait until investigators determine the circumstances of the photos before they ask to see them.
I am absolutley disgusted with the media in this country. Why don't they show the 550+ soilders who have been killed in action, and who have laid it all on the line? The tactics were wrong by the U.S. there is no doubt that, but to sever an American's head off is somethig all together. It makes me sick beyond all that's humane. I hate to say this, but folks this is going to get a hell of alot worse before it gets any better. Put me in coach (Rumsfeld), I'm ready to get midevil.
Roc Paint with all due respect it's not the media's fault that we're in this war. It's not their fault they don't show the dead Americans coming home. Ask the administration why they're not shown. And it's alot closer to 800 dead. Yes I know 550 were hostile deaths. But dead is dead no matter how they died. But you're right, it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. And I think the word you're looking for is mediaeval.
Nightline, a part of the U.S. media did recognize their people, and read their names. Many war supporters were upset by this.
The Washington Post, the LA Times, and the NY Times had the pictures and biographical information for every soldier who has died in Gulf War 2, either online or daily. One thirds of the Taquba report *missing* from that given to Congress. Also, addendum disagrees with public pronouncements on who was responsible - just low level soldiers or not? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50522-2004May23.html Soldiers Vented Frustration, Doctor Says Psychiatrist Studied Interviews With Guards Accused of Abusing Iraqi Detainees By R. Jeffrey Smith Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, May 24, 2004; Page A18 Physical abuses by U.S. military police of Iraqi prison detainees stemmed from a mixture of soldiers' anger and frustration over poor working conditions, their racism and the absence of any meaningful supervision, according to the report of an Air Force psychiatrist who studied the episode for the Army. . . .
Didn't want to start a new thread... http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...soner_abuse_military_intelligence_1&printer=1 Army: Unit Probed Afgan and Iraq Deaths 1 hour, 25 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By ESTES THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A military intelligence unit under investigation for its role in two prisoner deaths in Afghanistan (news - web sites) also oversaw interrogations at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, an Army spokesman said Monday. Latest headlines: · Iraq Resolution Gives Wide Powers to U.S. Forces Reuters - 4 minutes ago · Key Points From U.N. Iraq Resolution AP - 6 minutes ago · Text of U.N. Draft Resolution on Iraq AP - 10 minutes ago Special Coverage Company A of the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion spent most of 2003 in Iraq (news - web sites), following a 2002 deployment in Afghanistan, said Lt. Col. Billy Buckner, spokesman for the Fort Bragg-based 18th Airborne Corps. Capt. Carolyn A. Wood was the officer in charge of interrogations during both deployments, Buckner said. The New York Times on Monday reported the company's presence at both Abu Ghraib and Bagram, a military base north of Kabul. Wood's name also surfaced in a Washington Post report over the weekend that quoted a military defense lawyer saying Wood condoned the interrogation techniques used at Abu Ghraib. The military has said it is investigating the December 2002 deaths of two Bagram inmates, both of which were ruled homicides after autopsies. The investigation comes amid an international scandal involving allegations that American troops mistreated Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Some pictures of the abuse show prisoners being sexually humiliated and stacked naked in a human pyramid. Buckner said neither Wood nor her unit have been accused of any wrongdoing in Afghanistan or Iraq. He said that when Wood redeployed to Iraq last year, she modified the interrogation techniques used on prisoners there. "In Afghanistan they had some interrogation rules of engagement. When they deployed to Iraq, she (Wood) brought those rules with her," Buckner said. "Those rules were modified to make sure the right restraints were in place." Army officials did not immediately respond to a request Monday for an interview with Wood. Buckner said the company returned from Afghanistan to Fort Bragg in January 2003, then redeployed to Iraq in March of that year. In January, the unit left Kuwait to return to Fort Bragg, where it remains stationed. Asked about the unit's involvement in the alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib, Buckner said, "At the time most of the alleged abuses occurred in Iraq, the unit was preparing to transition to the United States, so they had only a handful of interrogators at Abu Ghraib." Capt. Robert Shuck, a military defense lawyer assigned to defend one of seven members of the Army company facing criminal charges for abusing Abu Ghraib inmates, has said Wood was "involved in intensive interrogations of detainees, condoned some of the activities and stressed that that was standard procedure, what the accused was doing." Prison officials have blamed the abuse on low-level military police, some of whom have maintained they were just following orders.
If all of the natives are "brown" peoples who need to put training wheels on before we can set them "free", this is what you end up treating them like: http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=1891343&nav=EQlpNN9R Former Soldier Claims He Was Beaten During Training Exercise In Cuba In an story first seen on LEX 18, a central Kentucky soldier says he was told to pose as the enemy for a training exercise at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in January 2003 - and it nearly cost him his life. Sean Baker was a member of the Kentucky National Guard from 1989 to 1997. During that time, he served in the Gulf War. In the late 90's, he got out of the Guard, but re-enlisted after September 11th. In January 2003, Baker was a member of the 438th Military Police company in Operation Enduring Freedom at Guantanamo Bay, where he says he was "given a direct order by an officer in the U.S. Army" to play the role of a detainee for a training exercise. "I was on duty as an MP in an internal camp where the detainees were housed," said Baker. Baker claims that he was ordered to put on one of the orange jumpsuits worn by the detainees. "At first I was reluctant, but he said 'you'll be fine...put this on.' And I did," said Baker. Baker says what took place next happened at the hands of four U.S. soldiers - soldiers he believes didn't know he was one of them - has changed his life forever. "They grabbed my arms, my legs, twisted me up and unfortunately one of the individuals got up on my back from behind and put pressure down on me while I was face down," said Baker. "Then he - the same individual - reached around and began to choke me and press my head down against the steel floor. After several seconds, 20 to 30 seconds, it seemed like an eternity because I couldn't breath. When I couldn't breath, I began to panic and I gave the code word I was supposed to give to stop the exercise, which was 'red.'" But, Baker says, the beating didn't stop. "That individual slammed my head against the floor and continued to choke me," he said. "Somehow I got enough air, I muttered out, 'I'm a U.S. soldier, I'm a U.S. soldier.'" Baker says it wasn't until one of the soldiers noticed what Baker was wearing did the exercise stop. "He saw that I had BDU's and boots on." Nearly 15 months after that day, and countless medical treatments at Walter Reed Hospital, Baker is now medically retired from the military, but still suffers. "I sustained an injury to my brain a traumatic brain injury which has caused me to have a seizure disorder I deal with daily," said Baker. Baker's traumatic brain injury is outlined in a military document in his possession, which says the injury "was due to soldier playing role as a detainee who was uncooperative." In light of recent revelations of prisoner abuse in Iraq, Baker felt the need to come forward with his story. "I feel like I've been betrayed by my own troops because I would never have done to any detainee what had been transpired in my life what happened to me," said Baker. "I don't want this to happen to anyone else, what I'm living with daily." The Kentucky National Guard confirmed Baker was a member of the 438th Military Police company, but would not comment on the investigation of the incident other than to say it was a "tragic, tragic accident."
General is said to have urged use of dogs Idea came from former Guantanamo Bay commander, officer says The Washington Post A U.S. soldier holds a dog in front an Iraqi detainee at Abu Ghraib prison, on the outskirts of Baghdad, in this undated photograph. By R. Jeffrey Smith Updated: 7:18 a.m. ET May 26, 2004A U.S. Army general dispatched by senior Pentagon officials to bolster the collection of intelligence from prisoners in Iraq last fall inspired and promoted the use of guard dogs there to frighten the Iraqis, according to sworn testimony by the top U.S. intelligence officer at the Abu Ghraib prison. According to the officer, Col. Thomas Pappas, the idea came from Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, who at the time commanded the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was implemented under a policy approved by Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the top U.S. military official in Iraq. "It was a technique I had personally discussed with General Miller, when he was here" visiting the prison, testified Pappas, head of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade and the officer placed in charge of the cellblocks at Abu Ghraib prison where abuses occurred in the wake of Miller's visit to Baghdad between Aug. 30 and Sept. 9, 2003. "He said that they used military working dogs at Gitmo [the nickname for Guantanamo Bay], and that they were effective in setting the atmosphere for which, you know, you could get information" from the prisoners, Pappas told the Army investigator, Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, according to a transcript provided to The Washington Post. Technique deemed 'okay' Pappas, who was under pressure from Taguba to justify the legality and appropriateness of using guard dogs to frighten detainees, said at two separate points in the Feb. 9 interview that Miller gave him the idea. He also said Miller had indicated the use of the dogs "with or without a muzzle" was "okay" in booths where prisoners were taken for interrogation. Kevin Lamarque / Reuters file U.S. Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, deputy commander of prison operations in Iraq, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill about Iraqi prisoner abuse, on May 19, 2004. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- But Miller, whom the Bush administration appointed as the new head of Abu Ghraib this month, denied through a spokesman that the conversation took place. "Miller never had a conversation with Colonel Pappas regarding the use of military dogs for interrogation purposes in Iraq. Further, military dogs were never used in interrogations at Guantanamo," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq. Pappas's statements nonetheless provide the fullest public account to date of how he viewed the interrogation mission at Abu Ghraib and Miller's impact on operations there. Pappas said, among other things, that interrogation plans involving the use of dogs, shackling, "making detainees strip down," or similar aggressive measures followed Sanchez's policy, but were often approved by Sanchez's deputy, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, or by Pappas himself. The claims and counterclaims between Pappas and Miller concern one of the most notorious aspects of U.S. actions at Abu Ghraib, as revealed by Taguba's March 9 report and by pictures taken by military personnel that became public late last month. The pictures show unmuzzled dogs being used to intimidate Abu Ghraib detainees, sometimes while the prisoners are cowering, naked, against a wall. Taguba, in a rare classified passage within his generally unclassified report, listed "using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees" as one of 13 examples of "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" inflicted by U.S. military personnel at Abu Ghraib. Violation of Geneva Conventions Experts on the laws of war have charged that using dogs to coerce prisoners into providing information, as was done at Abu Ghraib, constitutes a violation of the Geneva Conventions that protect civilians under the control of an occupying power, such as the Iraqi detainees. "Threatening a prisoner with a ferocious guard dog is no different as a matter of law from pointing a gun at a prisoner's head and ordering him to talk," said James Ross, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch. "That's a violation of the Geneva Conventions." Article 31 of the Fourth Geneva Convention bars use of coercion against protected persons, and Common Article Three bars any "humiliating and degrading treatment," Ross said. Experts do not consider the presence in a prison of threatening dogs, by itself, to constitute torture, but a 1999 United Nations-approved manual lists the "arranging of conditions for attacks by animals such as dogs" as a "torture method." But Pappas, who was charged with overseeing interrogations at Abu Ghraib involving those suspected of posing or knowing about threats to U.S. forces in Iraq, told Taguba that "I did not personally look at that [use of dogs] with regard to the Geneva Convention," according to the transcript. Pappas also said he did not have "a program" to inform his civilian employees, including a translator and an interrogator, of what the Geneva Conventions stated, and said he was unaware if anyone else did. He said he did not believe using force to coerce, intimidate or cause fear violated the conventions. Dogs used for security Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski, who commanded the prison guards at Abu Ghraib's cellblocks 1A and 1B until Nov. 19, when Pappas assumed control, said in an interview that Navy, Army and Air Force dog teams were used there for security purposes. But she said military intelligence officers "were responsible for assigning those dogs and where they would go." Using dogs to intimidate or attack detainees was very much against regulations, Karpinski said. "You cannot use the dogs in that fashion, to attack or be aggressive with a detainee. . . . Why were there guys so willing to take these orders? And who was giving the orders? The military intelligence people were in charge of them." Taguba never interviewed Miller or any officer above Karpinski's rank for his report. Nor did he conduct a detailed probe of the actions of military intelligence officials. But he said he suspected that Pappas and several of his colleagues were "either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib." In a Feb. 11 written statement accompanying the transcript, Pappas shifted the responsibility elsewhere. He said "policies and procedures established by the [Abu Ghraib] Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center relative to detainee operations were enacted as a specific result of a visit" by Miller, who in turn has acknowledged being dispatched to Baghdad by Undersecretary of Defense Stephen A. Cambone, after a conversation with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. Cambone told lawmakers recently that he wanted Miller to go because he had done a good job organizing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and wanted him to help improve intelligence-gathering in Iraq. Ideas brought from Guantanamo? Some senators, however, have noted that the Bush administration considers Guantanamo detainees exempt from the protections of the Geneva Conventions, and wondered if Miller brought the same aggressive interrogation ideas with him to Iraq, where the conventions apply. When asked at a May 19 Senate hearing if he and his colleagues had "briefed" military officers in Iraq about specific Guantanamo interrogation techniques that did not comply with the Geneva Conventions, Miller said no. He said he brought "our SOPs [standard operating procedures] that we had developed for humane detention, interrogation, and intelligence fusion" to Iraq for use as a "starting point." He added that it was up to the officers in Iraq to decide which were applicable and what modifications to make. But Pappas said the result of Miller's visit was that "the interrogators and analysts developed a set of rules to guide interrogations" and assigned specific military police soldiers to help interrogators -- an approach Miller had honed in Guantanamo. After calling the use of dogs Miller's idea, Pappas explained that "in the execution of interrogation, and the interrogation business in general, we are trying to get info from these people. We have to act in an environment not to permanently damage them, or psychologically abuse them, but we have to assert control and get detainees into a position where they're willing to talk to us." Pappas added that it "would never be my intent that the dog be allowed to bite or in any way touch a detainee or anybody else." He said he recalled speaking to one dog handler and telling him "they could be used in interrogations" anytime according to terms spelled out in a Sept. 14, 2003, memo signed by Sanchez. No special approval required That memo included the use of dogs among techniques that did not require special approval. The policy was changed on Oct. 12 to require Sanchez's approval on a case-by-case basis for certain techniques, including having "military working dogs" present during interrogations. That memo also demanded -- in what Taguba referred to during the interview as its "fine print" -- that detainees be treated humanely and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. But Pappas told Taguba that "there would be no way for us to actually monitor whether that happened. We had no formal system in place to do that -- no formal procedure" to check how interrogations were conducted. Moreover, he expressed frustration with a rule that the dogs be muzzled. "It's not very intimidating if they are muzzled," Pappas said. He added that he requested an exemption from the rule at one point, and was turned down. In the interview transcript, Taguba's disdain for using dogs is clear. He asked Pappas if he knew that after a prison riot on Nov. 24, 2003, five dogs were "called in to either intimidate or cause fear or stress" on a detainee. Pappas said no, and acknowledged under questioning that such an action was inappropriate. Taguba also asked if he believed the use of dogs is consistent with the Army's field manual. Pappas replied that he could not recall, but reiterated that Miller instigated the idea. The Army field manual bars the "exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind." At least four photographs obtained by The Washington Post -- each apparently taken in late October or November -- show fearful prisoners near unmuzzled dogs. One MP charged with abuses, Spec. Sabrina D. Harman, recalled for Army investigators an episode "when two dogs were brought into [cellblock] 1A to scare an inmate. He was naked against the wall, when they let the dogs corner him. They pulled them back enough, and the prisoner ran . . . straight across the floor. . . . The prisoner was cornered and the dog bit his leg. A couple seconds later, he started to move again, and the dog bit his other leg." Staff writer Josh White contributed to this report. © 2004 The Washington Post Company
MacBeth, do you think the police should quit using dogs to help them fight crime? Seriously, what is the big deal about a dog softening up a terrorist? Geez, if that's not ok, then what is?!
