[Peace-discuss] even more abuse by US troops

[Ricky Baldwin]

Reuters, NBC Staff Abused by U.S. Troops in Iraq
5/18/04

By Andrew Marshall 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces beat three Iraqis
working for Reuters and subjected them to sexual and
religious taunts and humiliation during their
detention last January in a military camp near
Falluja, the three said Tuesday. 

The three first told Reuters of the ordeal after their
release but only decided to make it public when the
U.S. military said there was no evidence they had been
abused, and following the exposure of similar
mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near
Baghdad. 

An Iraqi journalist working for U.S. network NBC, who
was arrested with the Reuters staff, also said he had
been beaten and mistreated, NBC said Tuesday. 

Two of the three Reuters staff said they had been
forced to insert a finger into their anus and then
lick it, and were forced to put shoes in their mouths,
particularly humiliating in Arab culture.

All three said they were forced to make demeaning
gestures as soldiers laughed, taunted them and took
photographs. They said they did not want to give
details publicly earlier because of the degrading
nature of the abuse. 

The soldiers told them they would be taken to the U.S.
detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, deprived
them of sleep, placed bags over their heads, kicked
and hit them and forced them to remain in stress
positions for long periods. 

The U.S. military, in a report issued before the Abu
Ghraib abuse became public, said there was no evidence
the Reuters staff had been tortured or abused. 

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of ground forces
in Iraq, said in a letter received by Reuters Monday
but dated March 5 that he was confident the
investigation had been "thorough and objective" and
its findings were sound. 

The Pentagon has yet to respond to a request by
Reuters Global Managing Editor David Schlesinger to
review the military's findings about the incident in
light of the scandal over the treatment of prisoners
at Abu Ghraib. 

Asked for comment Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Bryan
Whitman said only: "There are a number of lines of
inquiry under way with respect to prison operations in
Iraq. If during the course of any inquiry, the
commander believes it is appropriate to review a
specific aspect of detention, he has the authority to
do so." 

The abuse happened at Forward Operating Base Volturno,
near Falluja, the Reuters staff said. They were
detained on January 2 while covering the aftermath of
the shooting down of a U.S. helicopter near Falluja
and held for three days, first at Volturno and then at
Forward Operating Base St Mere. 

The three -- Baghdad-based cameraman Salem Ureibi,
Falluja-based freelance television journalist Ahmad
Mohammad Hussein al-Badrani and driver Sattar Jabar
al-Badrani -- were released without charge on Jan. 5. 

"INADEQUATE" INVESTIGATION 

"When I saw the Abu Ghraib photographs, I wept,"
Ureibi said Tuesday. "I saw they had suffered like we
had." 

Ureibi, who understands English better than the other
two detainees, said soldiers told him they wanted to
have sex with him, and he was afraid he would be
raped. 

NBC, whose stringer Ali Muhammed Hussein Ali
al-Badrani was detained along with the Reuters staff,
said he reported that a hood was placed over his head
for hours, and that he was forced to perform
physically debilitating exercises, prevented from
sleeping and struck and kicked several times. 

"Despite repeated requests, we have yet to receive the
results of the army investigation," NBC News Vice
President Bill Wheatley said. 

Schlesinger sent a letter to Sanchez on January 9
demanding an investigation into the treatment of the
three Iraqis. 

The U.S. army said it was investigating and requested
further information. Reuters provided transcripts of
initial interviews with the three following their
release, and offered to make them available for
interview by investigators. 

A summary of the investigation by the 82nd Airborne
Division, dated January 28 and provided to Reuters,
said "no specific incidents of abuse were found." It
said soldiers responsible for the detainees were
interviewed under oath and "none admit or report
knowledge of physical abuse or torture." 

"The detainees were purposefully and carefully put
under stress, to include sleep deprivation, in order
to facilitate interrogation; they were not tortured,"
it said. The version received Monday used the phrase
"sleep management" instead. 

The U.S. military never interviewed the three for its
investigation. 

On February 3 Schlesinger wrote to Lawrence Di Rita,
special assistant to Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, saying the investigation was "woefully
inadequate" and should be reopened. 
"The military's conclusion of its investigation
without even interviewing the alleged victims, along
with other inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the
report, speaks volumes about the seriousness with
which the U.S. government is taking this issue," he
wrote. 

ABUSE SCANDAL 

The U.S. military faced international outrage this
month after photographs surfaced showing U.S. soldiers
humiliating and abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib
prison west of Baghdad. 

An investigation by Major General Antonio Taguba found
that "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and
wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several
detainees" in Abu Ghraib. 

Seven U.S. soldiers have been charged over the Abu
Ghraib abuse and the first court martial is set for
Wednesday. 

U.S. officials say the abuse was carried out by a
small number of soldiers and that all allegations of
abuse are promptly and thoroughly investigated. 




	
		
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