[Peace-discuss] abuse

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

CBS Airs Alleged GIs Abuse of Iraqis
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: April 29, 2004


Filed at 9:51 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- One photograph shows Iraqi prisoners, naked except for hoods 
covering their heads, stacked in a human pyramid, one with a slur written in 
English on his skin. That and other scenes of humiliation at the hands of U.S. 
military police that appear in photographs obtained by CBS News have led to 
criminal charges against six American soldiers.

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The images were shown Wednesday night on ``60 Minutes II.''

CBS says they were taken late last year at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, 
where American soldiers were holding hundreds of prisoners captured during the 
invasion and occupation of Iraq.

In March, the U.S. Army announced that six members of the 800th Military 
Police Brigade faced court martial for allegedly abusing about 20 prisoners at Abu 
Ghraib. The charges included dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, 
assault and indecent acts with another person.

In addition to those criminal charges, the military has recommended 
disciplinary action against seven U.S. officers who helped run the prison, including 
Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski, the commander of the 800th Brigade, a senior 
military official said Wednesday in Baghdad.

The investigation recommended administrative action against several of the 
commanders, which could include punishments up to relieving them of their 
commands, said the official, speaking on condition on anonymity.

When the abuse charges were first announced, U.S. military officials declined 
to provide details about the evidence. But on Wednesday, at a news briefing 
in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the investigation began in January 
when an American soldier reported the abuse and turned over evidence that 
included photographs.

``That soldier said, 'There are some things going on here that I can't live 
with,''' said Kimmitt, who also confirmed that CBS had obtained the photographs.

One picture shows an Iraqi prisoner who was told to stand on a box with his 
head covered and wires attached to his hands. CBS said the prisoner was told 
that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted. Other photos showed naked 
prisoners being forced to simulate sex acts.

The Army ordered an investigation into the actions of 17 soldiers from the 
800th Brigade, which is based in Uniondale, N.Y. Ten were investigated for 
criminal actions, six of whom were charged in March.

The other seven were officers who faced an administrative investigation. 
Those officers have received copies of the probe and will now have the chance to 
rebut the claims, with a final decision expected within a month, the senior 
military official said.

In an interview with CBS correspondent Dan Rather, Kimmitt said the 
photographs were dismaying.

``We're appalled,'' Kimmitt said. ``These are our fellow soldiers, these are 
the people we work with every day, they represent us, they wear the same 
uniform as us, and they let their fellow soldiers down.''

``If we can't hold ourselves up as an example of how to treat people with 
dignity and respect, we can't ask that other nations do that to our soldiers,'' 
Kimmitt said.

``60 Minutes II'' identified one of the implicated soldiers as Army Reserve 
Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick, who described to Rather what he saw in the Iraqi 
prison.

``We had no support, no training whatsoever, and I kept asking my chain of 
command for certain things, rules and regulations, and it just wasn't 
happening,'' Frederick said.

``60 Minutes II'' reported Frederick will plead not guilty to charges 
including maltreatment and assault, claiming the way the Army operated the prison led 
to the abuse of prisoners. He also said he did not see a copy of the Geneva 
Convention rules for handling prisoners of war until after he was charged, the 
show reported.

The show also quoted from an e-mail which Frederick reportedly sent to his 
family in which he said of Iraqi prisoners: ``We've had a very high rate with 
our styles of getting them to break; they usually end up breaking within hours.''

Former Iraqi prisoners told The Associated Press last November of 
mistreatment in detention, including beatings and punishments that included hours of 
lying bound in the sun.

Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, said in March 
that many former detainees in Iraq claimed to have been tortured and ill-treated 
by coalition troops during interrogation.

Methods often reported, it said, included prolonged sleep deprivation, 
beatings, exposure to loud music and prolonged periods of being covered by a hood.