• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Officials address Iraqi detainee abuse issue

Army News Service

Release Date: 5/5/2004

By Joe Burlas

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 5, 2004) -- Senior Department of Defense officials publicly denounced the alleged abuse of Iraqi detainees in the past year by a number of military police Soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad, during several media opportunities in Washington, D.C., May 4.

"The images that we've seen, that include U.S. forces, are deeply disturbing, both because of the fundamental unacceptability of what they depicted, and because the actions by U.S. military personnel in those photos do not in anyway represent the values of our country or the armed forces," said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, during a Pentagon press briefing.

"We are going to hold those responsible, responsible," said Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the same DoD briefing.

Caught by the media on Capitol Hill for a brief interview following Congressional testimony on the alleged abuse earlier in the day and at an Army Pentagon briefing following shortly after the DoD press conference, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey called the abuse "a complete breakdown in discipline."

The alleged abuse included throwing detainees off moving trucks, sexual humiliation in requiring detainees to perform indecent acts and pose naked for pictures, and assault and battery between late last year and mid-January. The allegations came to official notice Jan. 13 when a concerned MP at the prison reported through his chain of command what he believed to be a pattern of inappropriate behavior by some of his fellow MP guards. Criminal Investigation Command started its investigation the next day.

Investigators found digital photos on computers of several of the guards that appear to show some of the alleged abuse.

As of May 4, six Abu Ghraib MPs have had criminal charges preferred against them for trail by courts martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. At least six others Soldiers have received letters of reprimand from a general officer. Two senior leaders responsible for the security and interrogation of detainees have been relieved of their duties, Casey said.

Asked by one reporter why the abuse allegations were not made public earlier, Rumsfeld said that Central Command did let the public know via a press release issued Jan. 16 that stated it was looking into detainee prisoner abuse allegations.

In fact, six separate investigations stemming from the allegations were started between Jan. 14 and April 23, Rumsfeld said. Those investigations include a criminal investigation; an assessment of Army Reserve prisoner training; a look if similar abuses were occurring at other CENTCOM detainee facilities; a Navy investigation at its Charleston, S.C., facility and one at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, to check the current situations there; a procedure 15 investigation if there were any improper intelligence procedures or personnel involved in the Abu Ghraib incident; and an Inspector General Office look to see what tactics, techniques or procedures may need changing to preclude similar events from happening.

Most of those investigations are ongoing.

However, the Army is not waiting for the end of those investigations to take action beyond punishing the Soldiers involved. Casey outlined a number of things the Army has already done:

-- The practice of placing a hood over the heads of detainees has been abolished.

-- A new MP battalion has taken over security of the Abu Ghraib prison. The new battalion has been augmented with additional MPs above the strength of the previous unit.

-- Lessons learned from the investigations are being passed to the MP School at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for inclusion in MP training and training manuals. Those lessons are also being sent to the Army's combat training centers so that appropriate scenarios can be used in testing Army units prior to deployment.

-- All MPs and military intelligence Soldiers dealing with detainee control in Iraq and Afghanistan have received refresher training on the Law of Land Warfare and the provisions of the Geneva Convention.

-- The MP and MI brigade commanders responsible for the security and interrogation of Iraqi detainees are coordinating their responsibilities much closer than their predecessors.

-- There is now a single person in charge of all Iraqi detainee facilities.

Maj. Gen. Donald Ryder, Army provost marshal general, told reporters at the Army briefing that in his 32 years of service as an MP, the MP's job has always been to provide for the custody and control of anybody who falls in Army hands in a safe and secure environment in a humane manner.

"The vast majority of the men and women in uniform serve our country with honor, and they uphold the values of our country as they battle enemies that show little compassion or respect for innocent human life," Rumsfeld said. "That is why it is so troubling to find instances in which the trust we are establishing has been damaged."