High-ranking US intelligence officers at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison ordered guards to use unmuzzled dogs to intimidate prisoners, The Washington Post said yesterday, quoting sworn statement by dog handlers at the jail.
Two handlers even had a contest to see who could use their dogs to frighten more Iraqi prisoners into urinating on themselves, a military intelligence interrogator told investigators, according to the statements obtained by the daily.
Seven soldiers have been charged with the widely photographed prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, which included pictures of snarling dogs being held inches from recoiling, kneeling prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs.
two-star general
Despite the soldier's insistence that they were following orders, no military officer has been charged in the abuse scandal.
The statements obtained by the Post appear to be the first clear indication that some prisoner abuse was authorized by personnel of higher rank.
Sergeants Michael Smith and Santos Cardona, both dog handlers at the notorious prison near Baghdad, told investigators that in December and January military intelligence personnel requested several times that they bring their dogs to help in questioning detainees.
In their statements they named Colonel Thomas Pappas, the top military intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, as having told them that the use of dogs in interrogations had been approved.
Pappas later told investigators that the use of unmuzzled dogs in interrogation sessions had been recommended by a two-star general and that it was "okay," the daily said.
working dogs
Army memos on interrogation techniques obtained by the Post indicated that military working dogs were allowed to be used, as long as higher-ranking officers approved the measures.
However, the daily added, the memorandums did not specify exactly what the dogs could do or whether they should be muzzled or not.
A human rights expert consulted by the daily said that frightening prisoners with dogs was a violation of the Geneva Convention.
It was unclear from the article whether Smith and Cardona were the dog handlers who tried to get prisoners to urinate on themselves.
The dog teams at Abu Ghraib were part of a security detail that also searched for weapons, explosives and contraband.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
RSS