- (AFP) -- Adultery, assault, drunkenness, kidnapping,
stealing computers, abusing prisoners and attempting to flee to Syria are
some of the offences US soldiers have been charged with in court martial
cases since Americans landed in Iraq.
-
- At least 13 soldiers have gone up for court martial hearings
in Iraq since May 1, the official end of major combat in the strife-torn
country, according to an official army list obtained by AFP.
-
- Seven have been handed bad conduct discharges, while
the others have been sentenced to jail terms, ranging anywhere from between
two and six months.
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- "It's a microcosm of society," said army lawyer
Captain Jennifer Santiago about the excesses of military life nine months
into the US occupation of Iraq.
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- Many other cases are still under investigation and are
not at the stage where the top US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General
Ricardo Sanchez, would recommend court martial proceedings, said Santiago,
who serves at the coalition's command in Baghdad.
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- Last week, the US military announced an investigation
into cases of abuse at an Iraqi detention centre, widely believed to be
Baghdad's massive Abu Gharib prison.
-
- That investigation is on top of a "handful"
of inquiries into whether US soldiers have maltreated Iraqi detainees,
Santiago said.
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- She would not specify how many, but said the number was
small.
-
- A senior US military spokesman also confirmed there were
"some cases" of alleged abuse, but refused to comment further.
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- Santiago said most of the investigations and court martial
proceedings were for solider-on-soldier offences related to "alcohol,
sex, disrespect, disobedience and assault." Since May, the US military
in Iraq has discharged at least four soldiers and one non-commissioned
officer for assault, according to the list given to AFP.
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- Three of the soldiers were involved in attacks on an
officer or fellow soldier. But the military said it was unable to specify
if the other two assault cases involved attacks on Iraqis or fellow soldiers.
-
- In one of those cases, where the victim's identity was
not revealed, the soldier was found guilty of "theft, assault and
kidnapping." He was sentenced to "179 days in confinement"
and expulsion from the military.
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- Santiago said the assault cases included the category
of one soldier "locking and loading" his firearm at another.
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- Besides assault, some of the soldiers on the list were
thrown out for theft, desertion and sexual high jinks.
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- In two separate cases, non-commissioned officers were
sentenced to jail time, demoted and fined for stealing government laptops
and trying to send them home by mail.
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- Two US non-commissioned officers were dishonorably discharged
for adultery, one of whom was also cited for "indecent acts",
although Santiago said none of the court martial cases in Iraq involved
prostitution. ó AFP One court martial case from the war involved
"guys who were tried to steal a car and go to Syria," she said.
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- Eight Marines are also on trial in Camp Pendleton, California
for the beating of Iraqi prisoners in southern Iraq during the war.
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- Three army reservists from Pennsylvania were also dishonourably
discharged last month for assaulting detainees in May at Camp Bucca, also
in southern Iraq.
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- Santiago defended the efficacy of the system to discipline
soldiers despite multiple allegations of excessive force against Iraqi
prisoners by human rights groups.
-
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