Home > Jailed Iraqis hidden from Red Cross, says US army
Julian Borger in Washington
US military policemen moved unregistered Iraqi prisoners, known as "ghost
detainees", around an army-run jail at Abu Ghraib, in order to hide them
from the Red Cross, according to a confidential military report.
The report on abuses at Abu Ghraib prison - a copy of which was obtained
by the Guardian - described the practice of hiding prisoners
as "deceptive, contrary to army doctrine, and in violation of
international law".
The revelations surfaced at a time when the prison abuse scandal
threatened to engulf the Pentagon and the military occupation of Iraq.
The US army yesterday admitted to the Senate there was evidence of
widespread abuse of prisoners in military-run jails in both Iraq and
Afghanistan. There have been a total of 25 recorded deaths in US military
custody in both countries.
"I think the important point that I took from this hearing is that this
does not appear to be an isolated incident and that there are additional
reports in Iraq, and also Afghanistan," Senator Edward Kennedy said after
an army briefing of the armed services committee. "And I think we also
have to find out [about] the conduct of personnel down in Guantanamo as
well."
The defence secretary, Don ald Rumsfeld, said that multiple
investigations were under way into prison conditions and interrogation
techniques, including at Guantanamo Bay and a naval detention centre at
Charleston, South Carolina.
But he denied the scandal represented a breakdown in control. "The system
works," he insisted. However, Mr Rumsfeld was denounced in the Senate for
failing to tell Congress about the Abu Ghraib scandal until the news
broke in the press last week.
The army report on Abu Ghraib, written by Major General Antonio Taguba,
is a bluntly-worded indictment of the military detention system, with
harsh words for the military policemen who physically and sexually abused
prisoners, their superior officers, and the private contractors who
carried out interrogations and gave some of the orders.
The Taguba report described how "ghost detainees" were brought to the
military police (MP) unit running several jails in Iraq by OGAs (military
jargon for other government agencies, often a reference to the CIA). "The
various detention facilities operated by the 800th MP Brigade have
routinely held persons brought to them by OGAs without accounting for
them, knowing their identities, or even the reason for their detention,"
the report stated.
"The joint interrogation and debriefing centre (JIDC) at Abu Ghraib
called these detainees ’ghost detainees’. On at least one occasion, the
320th MP Battalion at Abu Ghraib held a handful of ’ghost detainees’ for
OGAs that they moved around within the facility to hide them from a
visiting International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) survey team.
This manoeuvre was deceptive, contrary to army doctrine, and in violation
of international law."
Amanda Williamson, an ICRC spokeswoman, said its prison inspectors were
not aware that prisoners had been hidden from them, but if such practices
occurred they would represent a violation of the Geneva Conventions. The
conventions stipulate that the Red Cross should have unlimited access to
all prisoners, "except for reasons of imperative military necessity and
then only as a exceptional and temporary measure".
The US plans to keep more than 130,000 troops in Iraq until the end of
next year, Pentagon officials said yesterday. The decision marks a
drastic departure from earlier plans to reduce troop levels sharply in
the run-up to the US elections in November.
Twenty thousand troops due to be sent to Iraq to replace those being
pulled out will be more heavily armed with tanks and armoured troop
carriers.