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.
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