‘Many more US soldiers involved in torture’
On the orders of General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US forces in Iraq, six of the soldiers all officers and noncommissioned officers have received the most severe level of administrative reprimand in the US military, a military official said on condition of anonymity. A seventh officer was given a more lenient admonishment.
The official said he believed investigations of the officers were complete and they would not face further action or court martial. However, the reprimands could spell the end of their careers.
Another six US military police are facing criminal charges.
The US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council joined the chorus of international criticism of the alleged abuse, terming it a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
The council demanded that US authorities allow Iraqi judges to take part in the interrogation of prisoners and open the detention centres to inspection by Iraqi officials.
Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who oversaw the prison, said she did not know about the prisoner abuse while it was happening.
"They were despicable acts," Karpinski said. "Had I known anything about it, I certainly would have reacted very quickly."
Brigadier General Karpinski, commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade, said in one photograph from the prison, there appeared to be more Americans involved in the alleged abuse than the six MPs who have already been charged.
"Absolutely. One photograph showed it didn't show faces completely, but the photograph showed 32 boots. I'm saying other people than the military police."
Last week, American TV network CBS broadcast images allegedly showing Iraqis stripped naked, hooded and being tormented by their US captors. An internal US Army report found that Iraqi detainees were subjected to "sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses".
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari strongly condemned the alleged abuse yesterday and called for an independent inquiry into the reports.
"The position of the Foreign Ministry is to condemn these kind of behaviours," he said. "We call for an independent inquiry to investigate these allegations" so that the perpetrators can "be brought to justice".
Brigadier General Karpinski, who oversaw the army-run detention facilities in Iraq, said she believed military commanders were trying to shift the blame for the abuses from military intelligence officers in Iraq to the reservists.
