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Iraq Prisoners Faced 'Sadistic' Abuses - Magazine
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By Caroline Drees
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraqi prisoners faced numerous "sadistic,
blatant and wanton criminal abuses" by U.S. soldiers, including sodomy
and beatings, according to a U.S. Army report quoted by the New Yorker
magazine.
Reuters Photo
The New Yorker said it had obtained a 53-page, internal U.S. military
report into alleged abuses at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside
Baghdad. In an article posted on its Web site on Saturday, the
magazine said the report had been authorized by Lt. Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez, the top U.S. officer in Iraq (news - web sites), and was
completed in February.
The May 10 issue of the magazine goes on sale on Monday.
The army report listed abuses such as "breaking chemical lights and
pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; ... beating detainees with
a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape;
allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who
was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;
sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom
stick."
The report, written by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, said evidence to
support the allegations included "detailed witness statements and the
discovery of extremely graphic photographic evidence."
A U.S. defense official, who asked not to be identified, said he had
not specifically heard about the report cited by the New Yorker, but
said:
"We take all reports of detainee abuse seriously. All allegations of
mistreatment are investigated. We are committed to treating all
persons under our control with dignity, respect and humanity ... . The
U.S. Army has acted immediately in all cases of alleged abuse."
INVESTIGATION UNDER WAY
News of the military report comes days after photographs showing abuse
by U.S. troops of Iraqi prisoners were published and broadcast around
the globe.
The photos showed U.S. troops smiling, posing, laughing or giving the
thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi prisoners were stacked in a
pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts with one another.
President Bush (news - web sites) said on Friday he was deeply
disgusted by the abuse but said only a "few people" were to blame. He
defended the conduct of the U.S. occupation forces as the White House
scrambled to head off a backlash in Iraq and across the Arab world.
A British newspaper also published pictures showing British soldiers
apparently urinating on a shackled Iraqi prisoner of war. Prime
Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said on Saturday that abuse of
Iraqi prisoners was "completely and totally unacceptable."
U.S. officials said on Thursday that the military is weighing
disciplinary action against the Army general who was in charge of the
Abu Ghraib prison, a center of torture and executions under toppled
President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s government.
The U.S. military now holds several thousand prisoners at Abu Ghraib,
most of them rounded up on suspicion of carrying out attacks against
U.S.-led forces.
The U.S. military announced on March 20 it had brought criminal
charges against six soldiers with the 800th Military Police Brigade,
which could lead to courts-martial. The charges, stemming from a probe
launched in January, relate to accusations of abuses carried out in
November and December 2003 on around 20 detainees at the prison.
The charges included indecent acts with another person, maltreatment,
battery, dereliction of duty and aggravated assault, Morgenthaler
said.
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