Some Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib said they were abused by troops from Poland and other coalition countries, according to copies of statements given to US Army investigators.
The witness statements also include new and more detailed allegations of abuse by military intelligence soldiers, including a civilian interpreter's accusation that an Army interrogator forced a prisoner to walk naked through a cellblock.
One soldier has been convicted and six others are facing military charges for allegedly abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib last fall. All are enlisted military police who worked as guards.
PHOTO: AFP
Most of the soldiers charged say military and civilian intelligence operatives encouraged them to beat and humiliate Iraqi prisoners to make them more pliable during interrogations. Top Army brass have said they never condoned any abuse.
The records of interviews by Army Criminal Investigation Division agents obtained by reporters include new allegations that coalition forces had beaten prisoners before turning them over to the Americans.
Sergeant Antonio Monserrate, an Army interrogator, told investigators that two detainees had been "injured by the Polish Army." Monserrate referred to the inmates by their prison identification numbers but did not provide any further details.
Polish forces operate in south-central Iraq. Prisoners also accused Iraqi forces of abusing them but named no other country in the documents obtained by reporters.
Other civilian and military workers at Abu Ghraib mentioned claims by prisoners that they had been beaten by "coalition forces" before arriving at the US-run prison outside Baghdad.
"Many detainees complained about physical abuse while in detention caused by CF (coalition forces), not US forces,'' civilian intelligence analyst Luke Olander told investigators.
The statements also give new details about abuses allegedly directly ordered by US military intelligence soldiers.
Civilian translator Bakeer Naseef told an interviewer that one US military interrogator forced a prisoner to walk naked through the prison while saying, "Look at me!" Naseef said he could not remember the interrogator's name.
At least two US military interrogators -- Sergeant Ben Hill and Specialist Gary Webster -- said fellow military intelligence troops told the guards to keep detainees awake and blast music at them.
Lieutenant-general Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of US troops in Iraq, has said he never approved depriving Iraqi detainees of sleep. Sanchez and other officers said interrogators were told that sleep deprivation was among the tactics which required Sanchez' approval.
Defense lawyers are likely to present evidence of abuse by coalition forces and military intelligence operatives during courts-martial for the six accused soldiers who have yet to go to trial. Specialist Jeremy Sivits pleaded guilty this month.
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
‘NO INTEGRITY’: The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is believed to be easier than civilian prison A military court yesterday sentenced a New Zealand soldier to two years’ detention for attempting to spy for a foreign power. The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and would be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence. His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand’s history. The soldier would be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal