Prisoner abuse scandal

England convicted in prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib

Army Pfc. Lynndie England, the 22-year-old reservist who appeared in photos smirking amid naked prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, stood at attention as she was convicted of taking part in abusing detainees.

England statement can be used in trial

FORT HOOD, Texas // A military judge ruled yesterday that prosecutors can use one of two statements Pfc. Lynndie R. England gave to Army investigators when they first questioned her in January 2004 about the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison.

As England's second trial begins, questions linger

The last scheduled court-martial of an Army reservist arising from the Abu Ghraib prison investigations begins today in Fort Hood, Texas, with the trial of Pfc. Lynndie R. England, who became a lightning rod of international outrage in photographs showing her holding a naked Iraqi detainee on a leash.

Abu Ghraib learned from Guantanamo

A former warden of Abu Ghraib prison told a hushed courtroom yesterday that interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay were imported to the prison in Iraq. His testimony was a defense effort to tie higher-ups to allegations of prisoner abuse by two dog handlers who could face courts-martial.

Convicted reservist testifies

A reservist convicted of abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq testified yesterday that two Army dog handlers set their dogs on prisoners and laughed about a competition to scare prisoners into urinating on themselves.

General contradicts testimony on Abu Ghraib

WASHINGTON - An Army general who has been criticized for his role in the treatment of prisoners at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has contradicted his sworn congressional testimony about contacts with senior Pentagon officials.

Detainees in Iraq suffer abuse, says government

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The public war on the Iraqi insurgency has led to an atmosphere of hidden brutalities, including abuse and torture, carried out against detainees by the nation's special security forces, according to defense lawyers, international organizations and Iraq's federal Human Rights Ministry.

Details given of mishandling of Quran at Guantanamo Bay

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon released new details yesterday about mishandling of the Quran at the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects, confirming that a soldier deliberately kicked the Muslim holy book and that an interrogator stepped on a Quran and was later fired for "a pattern of unacceptable behavior."

Dog handlers named in Abu Ghraib abuse

WASHINGTON - Army officials named two military dog handlers at Abu Ghraib prison in criminal charges yesterday, alleging that they used their unmuzzled animals to "threaten and harass detainees" and scare them into cooperating with interrogators.

'Gulag' charge absurd, Bush says

WASHINGTON - President Bush defended yesterday the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, dismissing as "absurd" a human rights group's conclusion that the U.S. detention center there had become "the gulag of our times."

Military investigation finds abuse of Quran

WASHINGTON - A military investigation has found that American soldiers abused Muslim prisoners' Qurans at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, five times but found "no credible evidence" to back a claim that a Quran was flushed down a toilet, the prison's commander said yesterday.

U.N. seeks access to U.S. base holding Afghan prisoners

KABUL, Afghanistan - The United Nations has called for Afghan human rights investigators to be allowed into Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, after reports that poorly trained U.S. soldiers there had repeatedly abused prisoners.

Abu Ghraib defendant gets 6 months

FORT HOOD, Texas - An Army reservist who appeared in several of the most infamous abuse photos taken by guards at Abu Ghraib prison was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison for her role in the scandal that tainted the U.S. military's image at home and abroad.

Reservist convicted on 6 of 7 charges for her role in Abu Ghraib abuses

FORT HOOD, Texas - A military jury convicted Spc. Sabrina Harman yesterday on all but one of the seven charges she faced for her role in abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Private admits to incident of abuse in Abu Ghraib case

FORT HOOD, Texas - A soldier convicted in the Abu Ghraib scandal testified yesterday that it was he and not Spc. Sabrina Harman who handed wires to a hooded Iraqi prisoner forced to stand on a box for an hour in 2003.

Only one general to be punished for Abu Ghraib

WASHINGTON - The Army said yesterday that only one senior officer will be disciplined for failed leadership in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and that more than a dozen lower-ranking officers will face a variety of punishments.

Testimony begins on England's sentence

FORT HOOD, Texas - A defense lawyer for Pfc. Lynndie R. England said yesterday that the young woman who became a symbolic figure in the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal would answer for herself but should not face undue punishment because of the crimes of her fellow soldiers.

England pleads guilty to abuse

FORT HOOD, Texas - Pfc. Lynndie R. England, the young Army reservist whose grinning, thumbs-up image came to symbolize the worst of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, told a military judge yesterday that she knew the detainee abuses were wrong but went along because of peer pressure.

Lynndie England's family resigned to her guilty plea in Abu Ghraib prison abuses

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Relatives of Army Reserve Pfc. Lynndie England have accepted her decision to plead guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, a spokesman said yesterday.

Abu Ghraib clerk to plead guilty of abuse

SAN ANTONIO - Pfc. Lynndie R. England will plead guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, her lawyer said late last night, months after photos of her sexually humiliating inmates made her the face of a scandal that damaged the credibility of the U.S. military.

Top officers are reported cleared over Abu Ghraib

WASHINGTON - A comprehensive Army review has determined that top officers in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, including Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who was the senior ground commander in the country, and his key staff, should not be held liable for any wrongdoing or leadership failures, according to congressional sources.

New Army manual prohibits harsh interrogation

WASHINGTON - The Army is putting the finishing touches on a new interrogation manual that will specifically prohibit the harsh practices that have come to light since the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, officials said. It will also highlight international treaties on humane treatment of detainees and require more oversight by commanders.

Pentagon finds top officials have no direct blame for detainee abuse

WASHINGTON - The latest Pentagon review of military detainee mistreatment criticizes U.S. officials for failing to set clear interrogation guidelines but concludes that Pentagon officials and senior commanders were not directly responsible for the widespread abuses, according to Defense Department and congressional sources.

Soldiers tried to cover up alleged abuses, files reveal

American soldiers accused of detainee abuses tried to cover up their actions in at least two cases, allegedly threatening an Iraqi man with indefinite detention unless he recanted his claims of severe beatings and destroying photographs showing mock executions of Afghan detainees to prevent "another public outrage" after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal broke, military records released yesterday show.

Sergeant sentenced in Abu Ghraib prison scandal

FORT HOOD, Texas - Sgt. Javal Davis, a seven-year Reservist from Maryland's 372nd Military Police Company who claimed he had abused inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison for only 10 seconds, was sentenced to six months in prison yesterday by a military jury.

Confusion reigned inside Iraqi prison, Army major testifies

FORT HOOD, Tex. -- Testifying on behalf of a former Abu Ghraib guard facing jail time for abusing Iraqi detainees, an Army major who oversaw military police at the U.S.-run prison said yesterday that the soldiers worked under deplorable conditions made worse by basic confusion over who was in charge.

Videotapes show detainees being punched, stripped

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Videotapes of riot squads subduing troublesome terror suspects at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, show the guards punching some detainees, tying one to a gurney for questioning and forcing a dozen to strip from the waist down, according to a secret report. One squad was all-female, traumatizing some Muslim prisoners.

Guilty plea expected in Abu Ghraib case

A former Morgan State University student accused in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal is expected to plead guilty next week, becoming the fourth soldier from a Maryland Army Reserve unit to admit participating in the detainee abuse that touched off an international uproar last year.

Female interrogators said to use sex on Muslims at Guantanamo

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear, and in one case smearing a Saudi's face with fake menstrual blood, according to an insider's written account.

Abuse claims multiplying

The Army launched dozens of investigations into detainee abuses across Iraq in the past two years - probing claims of beatings and torture that rivaled the Abu Ghraib prison scandal - but case after case was closed with U.S. troops facing no charges or only minimal punishment, military records released yesterday show.

Detainee testifies Graner abused him

FORT HOOD, Texas - An Iraqi man imprisoned at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison angrily described a night of lurid abuses in videotaped testimony yesterday, saying he was stripped naked, punched in the chest, piled on top of fellow inmates and forced into sexual poses by U.S. soldiers who treated the events as sport.

Guards say Abu Ghraib abuses went beyond photos

FORT HOOD, Tex. - Two Army Reserve troops at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal faced off in a military courtroom yesterday, with one describing from the witness stand harsh treatment by his fellow soldier that went beyond what the world saw in photographs.

By Erika Niedowski and Jonathan Bor

Sun Journal: Military doctors assailed for role in detainee abuse

Military doctors "breached the laws of war" by helping intelligence officers carry out coercive and potentially torturous interrogations at detention facilities in Iraq and Cuba, according to a report today in a leading medical journal.

Reservists embraced on return

CUMBERLAND - In a rousing patriotic ceremony awash with waving flags, yellow ribbons and warm remarks, several hundred relatives, friends and local officials belatedly welcomed home members of the 372nd Military Police Company last night.

More Iraqis hidden from Red Cross, Army finds

WASHINGTON - Army investigators told Congress yesterday that a far greater number of Iraqi detainees at Baghdad's infamous Abu Ghraib prison - ranging from two dozen to as many as 100 - were hidden from the International Red Cross at the behest of the CIA, and the spy agency refused repeated requests to cooperate with their probe.

Witness supports soldier's claims

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- A former Army reservist who served at Abu Ghraib with Maryland's scandal-scarred 372nd Military Police Company testified yesterday that interrogators at the prison encouraged some detainee abuses and when confronted about their actions bluntly declared: "We're military intelligence; we know what we're doing."

Death threats follow reports of prison abuse

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - The Army reservist who tipped off investigators to abuse of Iraqi prisoners by his fellow soldiers is in protective military custody because of death threats, family members said yesterday.

Town pride scours off taint of scandal

CRESAPTOWN - Lynndie England isn't from this blink-and-miss-it town on the outskirts of Cumberland. Neither is Charles A. Graner Jr. or Ivan "Chip" Frederick, or the other four Army reservists charged with crimes in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.

Other abuses at prison recounted

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal unfolded one night in January with an anonymous letter and a computer disk filled with photos, but according to testimony yesterday, that tip from a concerned soldier was far from the first hint of mistreatment and discord late last year at the Iraqi prison.

MPs of 372nd testify against England

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Well before she emerged as one of the most visible figures in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, Pfc. Lynndie R. England was reprimanded repeatedly for disobeying orders and sneaking into the Abu Ghraib cellblock to visit her wartime boyfriend on his guard shift, her former supervisor testified yesterday.

Army portrays England as rogue soldier

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Military prosecutors began laying out their case against one of the central figures in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal yesterday, casting Pfc. Lynndie R. England as a rogue soldier who performed sex acts in personal photos and told Army investigators that she was photographed with Iraqi detainees arranged in sexually humiliating positions "just for fun."

Md. reservists welcomed home

FORT LEE, Va. - The field house on this Army base erupted in raucous cheers last night as the soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company marched in, five abreast, to a brass band playing "God Bless America."

New abuse allegations surfacing against U.S.

WASHINGTON - More cases of possible mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners have come to Congress' attention and need investigation by the Pentagon, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said yesterday.

Reservist in court in Iraq abuses

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - More than two months after the first photographs of Iraqi prisoners enduring abuses under the watch of U.S. soldiers appeared, the young Army reservist who became a visible and polarizing figure in the ensuing scandal made her debut yesterday in a military courtroom.

CIA contract worker charged in prison abuse

Federal authorities brought the first civilian criminal case involving prison abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday, charging a former CIA contract worker in the beating death of an Afghan prisoner who died three days after he voluntarily surrendered at the gates of a U.S. military base.

Rumsfeld admits telling military to hide detainee

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld acknowledged yesterday that, at the request of the CIA's director, he had authorized the U.S. military to hide an Iraqi detainee last fall from the International Red Cross and other organizations that monitor treatment of prisoners.

Civilian interrogator denies promoting physical abuse of Abu Ghraib prisoners

An American contract interrogator at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison described in January interrogation tactics that included a "Sleep/Meal Management Program" using sleep deprivation and diet manipulation to try to get prisoners to give up their secrets.

U.S. military pledges Afghan prison reform

KABUL, Afghanistan - The U.S. military promised yesterday to improve its prisons in Afghanistan after a top general inspected the network of 20 jails, where allegations of abuse include the deaths of at least three detainees.

Senate panel leaders say CIA is stalling release of Iraq report

WASHINGTON - Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee are accusing the CIA of trying to delay the release of the panel's report that criticizes the agency for overestimating the prewar threat posed by Iraq.

Pentagon to broaden probe of prisoner abuse

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said yesterday that it would broaden the investigation of intelligence units involved in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners as part of an effort to focus such probes on the military hierarchy.

Torture memos exempted al-Qaida

WASHINGTON - The confidential Justice Department memos criticized by Democrats as laying the legal foundation for Iraqi prisoner abuses were aimed mainly at showing that international treaties banning torture do not apply to al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners, Bush administration officials say.

Inquiry targets Va. contractor at Iraq jail

The inspector general of the Interior Department has opened an inquiry into why the department approved the hiring of interrogators to question Iraqi prisoners under a contract for computer services, officials announced yesterday.

MP general ousted from post in Iraq

WASHINGTON - Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski, the overall commander of the military police accused of abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, who was disciplined for "serious deficiencies" in handling her troops, has been removed from command of her brigade, officials said yesterday.

By Laura Sullivan

Sun Journal: Some in FBI balked at CIA ties

WASHINGTON - When senior FBI officials announced plans in 2002 to participate with the CIA in terrorism-related interrogations abroad, some counterterrorism officials in the bureau balked, arguing vehemently against the idea.

Some U.S. prison contractors may avoid charges

The U.S. civilian interrogators questioning prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq work not under a military contract but on one from the Department of the Interior, a bureaucratic twist that could complicate any effort to hold them criminally responsible for abuse of detainees or other offenses.

FBI agents not part of Iraq abuses

WASHINGTON - FBI agents working overseas in Iraq and elsewhere did not participate in abusive interrogation of prisoners or witness any mistreatment, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said yesterday.

Soldier gets year in prison in Iraq abuses

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The request made to Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits was simple, and the soldier had a simple response. Describe, his lawyer told him during his court-martial yesterday, what it was like to work at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Abu Ghraib understaffing noted by U.S. commander

In the latest sign that troop shortages might be undermining the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the top U.S. commander in the region acknowledged yesterday that too few guards were assigned to Abu Ghraib prison when prisoners were abused there.

General testifies he didn't see Red Cross report for 3 months

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. general in Iraq said yesterday that he did not see a report that the International Committee of the Red Cross issued in November detailing abuses at Abu Ghraib prison until three months after the military received it. His assertion raised questions about how seriously military leaders regarded the initial allegations.

Senators to question top generals on abuse

WASHINGTON - With Republicans feuding over how actively to investigate the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, senators plan to question three top generals today about how far up the military chain of command responsibility for the detainee mistreatment goes.

3 Reuters workers claim abuse during U.S. detention

LONDON - Reuters said yesterday that three Iraqis working for the British news agency were beaten, taunted and forced to put shoes in their mouths during their detention at a U.S. military camp near Fallujah in January.

Families of unit accused in abuse at Iraqi prison pray for strength

CUMBERLAND -- Families of the military police unit at the center of the Iraqi prison-abuse scandal prayed together yesterday for strength, troop protection and forgiveness for any who sinned.

Abu Ghraib chief called good officer in tough job

Amid the chaos of incoming mortar strikes, uncooperative detainees and ineffective policing that had come to define Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, U.S. officials abruptly installed a new commander in November - a veteran Army intelligence officer named Col. Thomas M. Pappas - and assigned him no small task.

Abuse incident foreshadowed Abu Ghraib

WASHINGTON - At least two U.S. senators received letters and other contacts nearly a year ago from relatives of four Army reservists who were accused of abusing detainees at the Camp Bucca prison in southern Iraq, detailing dangerous conditions and low morale.

Soldiers convicted in Abu Ghraib scandal

Eleven U.S. soldiers have been convicted of crimes stemming from detainee abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq:

Latest images shock officials

WASHINGTON - Images of U.S. soldiers forcing Iraqi prisoners to perform sex acts and to injure themselves as part of their abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison shocked members of Congress, who spent a grim afternoon yesterday viewing hundreds of new photos and videos that are off-limits to the public.

2 more in Md. unit face court-martial

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Army announced yesterday that two more soldiers from a Maryland military police company are to be court-martialed at public trials related to the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.

Bush weighs release of abuse photos

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration faces a difficult decision about whether to publicly release hundreds of images of Iraqi prisoners being abused and sexually humiliated at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Ex-chief of prison offers a defense

The ousted commander of Abu Ghraib prison recalls a grim period of poor working conditions last year that led inexorably to a few soldiers under his command committing "acts of abuse in clear violation of any standard of morality" at the U.S.-run prison in Iraq.

General faults 'failure in leadership'

WASHINGTON - The Army general whose report on mistreatment of Iraqi detainees helped ignite an international firestorm clashed yesterday with a top civilian Pentagon official over whether guards at Abu Ghraib prison should have assisted military intelligence officers with interrogations.

Powell says Bush was 'informed' of Red Cross concerns

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday that he and other top officials kept President Bush "fully informed ... in general terms" about complaints made by the Red Cross and others over ill-treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

Sun Q&A

Tom Bowman on Iraqi prisoner abuse

Jace Woods, Baltimore: Why are these soldiers being made out to be the scapegoats in this mess? Their lives will be ruined, and yet there will be some who will benefit greatly from this.

Bush praises defense chief

WASHINGTON -- President Bush paid a high-profile visit to the Pentagon yesterday to praise his beleaguered defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, who he said is "doing a superb job," and to try to prevent the Iraq prison abuse scandal from further threatening his war goals and his political standing.

U.S. practices at Abu Ghraib barred in '80s

WASHINGTON - The abuse of prisoners in Iraq shows a pattern of harsh, coercive U.S. interrogation practices that were supposed to have ended with the Cold War.

Iraq prison commander 'embarrassed, ashamed'

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq - The brown paint is fresh, and it glistens even in the dim light. The air is cool and moves with the help of whirring ceiling fans. There is a hallway to the right and to the left --- known as cell blocks 1A and 1B.

2 charges against reservist dropped

Spc. Megan M. Ambuhl -- one of seven Western Maryland-based Army reservists charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners -- is a victim of "guilt by association" because she was standing near Pfc. Lynndie R. England, but out of camera range, in the now notorious photo of a naked male detainee leashed by the neck at Abu Ghraib prison, her civilian attorney said yesterday.

Army sets 1st court-martial in abuses

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Army officials announced yesterday that they would convene the first court-martial in what could be a string of public military trials in the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.

Picturing defeat in war of ideas

The accusations of gross misconduct directed at a handful of U.S. soldiers guarding prisoners in Iraq have thrown the administration into a graver political crisis than the deaths of more than 760 of their fellow troops in the war.

New photos show abuse of Iraqi prisoners

WASHINGTON - More photographic evidence surfaced yesterday graphically depicting U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, as Democrats continued their calls for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign amid the widening scandal.

Soldiers' warnings ignored

WIESBADEN, Germany - The two military intelligence soldiers, assigned interrogation duties at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, were young, relatively new to the Army and had only one day of training on how to pry information from high-value prisoners.