Three US Army soldiers have been found guilty of mistreating Iraqi detainees at a prisoner of war camp in Iraq and ordered discharged from the service, an army spokeswoman said Monday.
The charges stemmed from an incident May 12 at Camp Bucca in Iraq in which at least one detainee was held down while soldiers beat and kicked him at the urging of their superior, Master Sergeant Lisa Girman.
Girman was found guilty of dereliction of duty and maltreatment of an Iraqi detainee "by knocking him to the ground, repeatedly kicking him in the groin, abdomen and head and encouraging her subordinate soldiers to do the same," an army statement said.
Girman was stripped to the rank of private, ordered out of the theater immediately and given an "other than honorable condition discharge," said the US 3rd Army, which commands US land forces in Iraq.
Also found guilty of the same charges were Staff Sergeant Scott McKenzie and Specialist Timothy Canjar, who also were found to have made false statements to investigators, the army said.
"All three soldiers are being separated," said Martha Rudd, an army spokeswoman in Washington. "And all are being sent back home."
McKenzie mistreated an Iraqi prisoner "by dragging him by his armpits across the ground and holding him down while others were allowed to kick him, and throwing an Iraqi detainee to the ground on his face and stepping on his previously injured arm," she said.
McKenzie held the detainee's legs apart, "encouraging others to kick him in the groin while other US soldiers kicked him in the abdomen and head," the army statement said.
Canjar also held a detainee's legs apart while others kicked him in the groin, and violently twisted a detainee's previously injured arm "causing him to scream in pain," according to the army statement.
It was unclear how many detainees were subjected to abuse.
A fourth soldier charged in the case, Sergeant Shawna Edmondson, accepted a discharge "under other than honorable" conditions in November in lieu of court martial, the army said.
Brigadier-General Ennis Whitehead, the acting commander of the 143rd Transportation Command, presided over the non-judicial hearing that handed down the verdict and non-judicial punishment against the three.
Their punishment included forfeited pay, 30 days extra duty and 30 days restricted duty at their base.
The three chose not to appeal the verdict, the army said.
In separate administrative actions, McKenzie was reduced in rank to a sergeant and Canjar to a private.
McKenzie and Canjar "will receive a separation from the military for commission of a serious offense, given a General, Under Honorable Conditions Discharge, and be immediately redeployed from the theater of operations," the army said.
Whitehead directed that Girman "be separated from the military for commission of a serious offense, given an Other Than Honorable Conditions Discharge, be reduced to the lowest enlisted grade of Private (E-1), and be immediately redeployed from this theater of operations," the army said.
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