US soldiers who abused prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were not always preparing them for interrogation but were punishing them or simply having fun, The Washington Post reported yesterday.
The newspaper reported on documents showing that military police staged some of the abuse seen in now-notorious photographs to discipline the prisoners for riots, an alleged rape of a teenage boy and other acts.
Some of the photographs have been widely published, among them shots of a pyramid of naked prisoners, a hooded man standing on a box hooked up to wires, and three nude prisoners handcuffed together on the prison floor. The Post on Friday disclosed a collection of new photographs and video images and sworn depositions regarding the abuse of detainees by US soldiers.
On Saturday, the Post said it had a sworn written statement in which a military police officer said civilian and military intelligence officers frequently visited the prison at night, taking detainees away for questioning inside a "wood hut" behind the prison.
The US Congress and the Pentagon are both investigating the revelations of physical and sexual abuse of Iraqi inmates at the prison outside Baghdad.
Seven US soldiers, four men and three women are facing courts-martial for abuses at Abu Ghraib and one, Specialist Jeremy Sivits, pleaded guilty on Wednesday. Another of them, Specialist Charles Graner, was identified in statements by eight detainees and is facing more charges than the others.
The Post said several of the personnel seen in the photographs, including Sivits, Specialist Sabrina Harman, Sergeant Javal Davis and Private Lynndie England, have given statements to investigators.
The abuse was first reported by Specialist Joseph Darby, who is quoted as saying he found out about it when he began checking into a shooting at the prison.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
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