- 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.
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- 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, and was completed in February.
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- The May 10 issue of the magazine goes on sale on Monday.
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- 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."
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- 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."
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- 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:
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- "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."
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- INVESTIGATION UNDER WAY
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- President Bush 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 said on Saturday that abuse of Iraqi prisoners was
"completely and totally unacceptable."
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- 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's government.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- The charges included indecent acts with another person,
maltreatment, battery, dereliction of duty and aggravated assault, Morgenthaler
said.
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