Green light for Iraqi prison abuse came right from the
top
Classified documents show the former US military chief
in Iraq personally sanctioned measures banned by the
Geneva Conventions. Andrew Buncombe reports from
Washington
03 April 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=625909

America's leading civil liberties group has demanded
an investigation into the former US military commander
Iraq after a formerly classified memo revealed that he
personally sanctioned a series of coercive
interrogation techniques outlawed by the Geneva
Conventions. The group claims that his directives were
directly linked to the sort of abuses that took place
at Abu Ghraib.

Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) reveal that Lt General Ricardo Sanchez
authorised techniques such as the use of dogs to
intimidate prisoners, stress positions and
disorientation. In the documents, obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act, Gen Sanchez admits that
some of the techniques would not be tolerated by other
countries.

When he appeared last year before a Congressional
committee, Gen Sanchez denied authorising such
techniques. He has now been accused of perjury.

The ACLU says the documents reveal that the abuse of
prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere was the
result of an organised and co-ordinated plan for
dealing with prisoners captured during the so-called
war on terror that originates at the highest levels of
the chain of command. It says that far from being
isolated incident, the shocking abuse at Abu Ghraib
that was revealed last year was part of a pattern.

"We think that the techniques authorised by Gen
Sanchez were certainly responsible for putting into
play the sort of abuses that we saw at Abu Ghraib,"
Amirit Singh, an ACLU lawyer, told The Independent on
Sunday. "And it does not just stop with Sanchez. It
goes to [Defence Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld, who wrote
memos authorising these sorts of techniques at
Guantanamo Bay."

In the September 2003 memo, Gen Sanchez authorised the
use of 29 techniques for interrogating prisoners being
held by the US. These included stress positions,
"yelling, loud music and light control" as well as the
use of muzzled military dogs in order to "exploit Arab
fear of dogs". Some of the most notorious photographs
to emerge from the Abu Ghraib scandal showed
hand-cuffed, naked Iraqi prisoners cowering from
snarling dogs.

Six weeks after Gen Sanchez issued his memo, a
subsequent directive banned the use of dogs and
several of the other techniques following concerns
raised by military lawyers. The ACLU says that at
least 12 of the techniques listed in the memo went
beyond the limits for interrogation listed in the US
Army's field manual.

"Gen Sanchez authorised interrogation techniques that
were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions and
the army's own standards," said Ms Singh. "He and
other high-ranking officials who bear responsibility
for the widespread abuse of detainees must be held
accountable."

The Abu Ghraib scandal sent shockwaves around the
world and further undermined US credibility in the
Arab world. In the immediate aftermath, insurgents who
captured and beheaded a US engineer, Nick Berg, said
they had done so in retaliation for the abuse at the
infamous prison west of Baghdad, where prisoners were
sexually humiliated and tortured.

A number of low-ranking reservists have been charged
over the abuse. An alleged ringleader, Charles Graner,
36, was convicted last January and sentenced to 10
years in jail. At his trial his lawyer, Guy Womack,
claimed his client was being used as a scapegoat. "The
government is asking a corporal to take the hit for
them," he said. "The chain of command says, 'We didn't
know anything about this stuff'. You know that is a
lie."

When he appeared before the Senate Armed Services
Committee in May 2004, Gen Sanchez flatly refused
approving such techniques in Iraq, and said that a
news article reporting otherwise was false. "I never
approved any of those measures to be used ... at any
time in the last year," he said under oath. The ACLU
accuses him of committing perjury and has asked the
Attorney General to investigate. In a letter to
Alberto Gonzales, the group said: "Gen Sanchez's
testimony, given under oath before the Senate Armed
Services committee, is utterly inconsistent with the
written record, and deserves serious investigation.
This clear breach of the public's trust is also
further proof that the American people deserve the
appointment of an independent special counsel by the
Attorney General."

A number of investigations have been carried out into
the abuse at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. While some have
referred to a break-down in the chain of command, none
have placed responsibility with senior officers or
politicians.

Kathy Kelley, a spokeswoman for the anti-war group
Voices in the Wilderness, said the new documents
obtained by the ACLU showed a pattern of abuse by US
forces. "It saddens me but I am not shocked," she
said.

Gen Sanchez is currently commanding general of the US
V Corps based in Germany. He has yet to comment on the
release of the memo. A Pentagon spokesman declined to
comment.

The Pentagon originally refused to release the memo on
national security grounds, but passed it to the ACLU
after the group challenged it in court. Mr Rumsfeld
last week dismissed suggestions that it had been
withheld to save the Pentagon's embarrassment.

But the ACLU said the reason for the delay in
delivering the more than 1,200 pages of documents in
which the memo was contained was "evident in the
contents", which included reports of brutal beatings
and sworn statements that soldiers were told to "beat
the fuck out of" prisoners.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suit by Detainee on Transfer to Syria Finds Support in
Jet's Log
By SCOTT SHANE
Published: March 30, 2005

This article was reported by Scott Shane, Stephen Grey
and Ford Fessenden and written by Mr. Shane.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/international/americas/30plane.html

WASHINGTON, March 29 - Maher Arar, a 35-year-old
Canadian engineer, is suing the United States, saying
American officials grabbed him in 2002 as he changed
planes in New York and transported him to Syria where,
he says, he was held for 10 months in a dank, tiny
cell and brutally beaten with a metal cable.

Now federal aviation records examined by The New York
Times appear to corroborate Mr. Arar's account of his
flight, during which, he says, he sat chained on the
leather seats of a luxury executive jet as his
American guards watched movies and ignored his
protests.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. Soldiers Accused Of Raping Iraqi Women Escape
Prosecution

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/29/153242

On International Women's Day, Guardian reporter
Suzanne Goldenberg broke the story about how soldiers
from the 3rd Infantry Brigade accused of rape were
able to escape the charges. The soldiers were from the
same military unit whose troops fired on the car
carrying freed Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena.
[includes rush transcript]

Suzanne Goldenberg's article appeared in the Guardian
newspaper. It began: "Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry
Brigade -- the same military unit whose troops fired
on the car carrying freed Italian hostage Giuliana
Sgrena -- were under investigation last year for
raping Iraqi women, U.S. Army documents reveal. Four
soldiers were alleged to have raped two women while on
guard duty in a Baghdad shopping precinct. A U.S. Army
investigator interviewed several soldiers from the
military unit, the 1-15th battalion of the 3rd
Infantry Brigade, but did not locate or interview the
Iraqi women involved before shutting down the inquiry
for lack of evidence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. Soldier Convicted of Killing Iraqi Walks Free

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=632613

Apr 1, 2005 — BERLIN, April 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. army
tank company commander convicted of shooting dead a
wounded Iraqi walked free from court on Friday,
although he was dismissed from the army for what he
called a "mercy killing."

Army Captain Rogelio Maynulet had faced up to 10 years
in jail after a court martial at a U.S. army base in
Wiesbaden, Germany, found him guilty of assault with
intent to commit voluntary manslaughter.

"He was sentenced with dismissal from the United
States Army … there will be no confinement time," a
military spokesman said.
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