Documents detail wider abuse of Iraqi prisoners

Pentagon papers indicate probe of assaults outside of Abu Ghraib prison

By Miles Moffeit and Arthur Kane

DENVER POST

Iraqi prisoners allegedly were stripped of their clothing and exposed to harsh conditions at two war-zone detention facilities separate from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, according to Pentagon documents obtained this week by The Denver Post.

The Army is investigating whether a detainee was sexually humiliated during an interrogation at Forward Operating Base Summerall near Bayji, Iraq, and whether several prisoners were forced to stand naked in the rain for 12 hours at a Balad, Iraq, base earlier this year, records show.

The documents bolster the view that sexual degradation of Iraqi prisoners was not isolated at Abu Ghraib, where reservist soldiers have been accused of stripping inmates and forcing them to perform sexually demeaning acts, often in full view of other prisoners and personnel.

Until now, Abu Ghraib has been the only Iraq detention facility where sexual abuse allegations have been investigated by Army officials, according to a review of law-enforcement summaries obtained by The Post. In Muslim culture, nudity can be shameful and conflicts with many religious principles.

The recently obtained records also catalog several additional investigations into possible abuses by soldiers that include placing a detainee in a crate and "prodding" others with metal objects.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the reports troubling.

"With the Abu Ghraib prison scandal fresh in our minds, I believe it is important that we investigate all alleged instances of prisoner abuse wherever they may occur," Allard said Tuesday in a statement after reviewing excerpts from documents provided by The Post. "Such acts are inhumane and contrary to the rights and freedoms we cherish."

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Joe Yowsa said he could not comment on ongoing investigations but stressed that, generally, the abuse allegations have arisen from individual wrongdoing.

"A significant number of abuse incidents are individuals acting on their own," Yowsa said. "They’re not following policies or procedures."

Among the sexual-humiliation allegations is a report that a specialist with the 33rd Field Artillery abused an Iraqi during an interrogation to obtain information "regarding future attacks." The Summerall facility is in an area populated by Saddam Hussein loyalists and has come under frequent fire from insurgents.

When the prisoner denied knowledge of attacks, the specialist allegedly forced him to disrobe and poured soda over his body.

"The detainee was then made to roll in the sand and conduct jumping jacks while he was naked," the report states. "...Various female cooks and medical personnel were brought over to watch the detainee while he was forced to exercise."

Army officials opened an investigation in April after guards at a state prison in South Dakota intercepted a letter from the specialist detailing the incident to his brother, an inmate at the prison, reports show. The Post could not reach the specialist, but a relative said the soldier claims he has been "cleared" of wrongdoing.

At a camp near Balad, a released Iraqi prisoner has alleged that he and others were forced to "stand naked in the rain for 12 hours" by 4th Infantry Division soldiers last January.

The prisoner, a dealer of domestic animals, contends that he was captured at a checkpoint by U.S. soldiers because he was carrying $26,000 worth of Iraqi currency. He said a captain refused to return his money once he was released, then re-imprisoned him for 16 days after he demanded it back.

The captain "threatened him, told him not to file a claim, and threatened to cut his tongue if he did make a claim," the Iraqi man reported.

Stripping was sanctioned as an interrogation technique in 2002 by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for use on suspected Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But Rumsfeld later rescinded the sanction, saying the tactic would be approved on a limited basis.

Stripping allegations eventually emerged at Abu Ghraib following Rumsfeld’s April order and became the center of an internal investigation.

Scattered reports of sexual humiliation in the Iraq war zone have emerged in recent weeks. The Post reported in May that soldiers in an engineering platoon captured prisoners trespassing into their camp, stripped them and administered shocks to them. And the Red Cross released a report citing the use of stripping as an interrogation technique in Iraq but has not divulged details.

Pentagon officials have dismissed any connection between interrogation techniques used at the detention center in Cuba and facilities in Iraq.

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Other abuse cases outside Abu Ghraib are under investigation by the Army, documents show:

— Two prisoners who exhibited bruises and cuts after being held at a facility near Mosul, Iraq, alleged that "coalition forces" abused them and poured water on them during interrogations last March. A commander, Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, issued a finding that the accused soldiers did not act improperly. He blamed the detainees’ bruises on the "physical nature of the apprehension, passive resistance by feigning exhaustion and falling to one’s knees, prolonged kneeling during interrogation and pre-existing medical conditions." No update was provided on the criminal investigation.

— A sergeant is under investigation for assaulting two detainees in early May while moving them in a vehicle between two camps. When they arrived, several soldiers noticed bruises on both detainees, as well as other injuries including a broken collarbone and ruptured eardrum. Aggravated assault charges are pending against the soldier, according to the records.

— In early June, two detainees at Camp Eagle reported that two Iraqi interpreters threatened them with death if they did not respond truthfully to questions. American soldiers are alleged to have been present, according to the report. "The detainees also accused the interpreters of pulling their hair, striking them in the head, throwing them to the ground and prodding them with a metal object." No suspects have been identified, according to the report.

— A detainee at the Division Central Collection Point in Tikrit reported he had been tied, blindfolded and placed in a "crate about four feet high that required him to sit on the floor of the box with his knees to his chest." The report notes that he was in the custody of a special forces unit. The incident occurred between May 9 and 11.

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