The Clipboard: New jail abuse allegations hit US

From an article¹:

Fresh allegations have emerged of serious mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US military personnel.

Documents detailing abuses, some dated months after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, were released as part of a legal case against the US government.

Others allege serious mistreatment of detainees at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the case to determine whether the US was mistreating prisoners.

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero told the New York Times newspaper that the documents meant top officials could no longer avoid public scrutiny and blame low-ranking troops acting on their own.

Last week the case threw up fresh revelations of abuse in Iraq by US marines, 13 of whom have been convicted and some jailed. (link)

Thank God for the ACLU. Yes, I'm a member, and damn proud of it right now.

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Complete text of the article, New jail abuse allegations hit US, by the BBC

Fresh allegations have emerged of serious mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US military personnel.

Documents detailing abuses, some dated months after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, were released as part of a legal case against the US government.

Others allege serious mistreatment of detainees at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the case to determine whether the US was mistreating prisoners.

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero told the New York Times newspaper that the documents meant top officials could no longer avoid public scrutiny and blame low-ranking troops acting on their own.

Last week the case threw up fresh revelations of abuse in Iraq by US marines, 13 of whom have been convicted and some jailed.

Strangulation and beatings

One of the memorandums released on Monday provided the account of an FBI agent who observed "serious physical abuses" in Iraq.

It was dated 24 June - two months after the extent of abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison was revealed - and was marked "urgent" and sent to FBI Director Robert Mueller.

It described strangulation, beatings and the placing of lit cigarettes into detainees' ears.

Documents relating to Guantanamo suggests that detainees were shackled to the floor in foetal positions for more than 24 hours at a time, left without food and water and allowed to defecate on themselves.

In memos over a two-year period up to last August, FBI agents said they witnessed the use of growling dogs to intimidate detainees - contrary to previous statements by defence department officials.

One detainee was wrapped in an Israeli flag and bombarded with loud music in an apparent attempt to soften his resistance to interrogation, they said.

There were also allegations that military interrogators impersonated FBI agents, apparently to avoid possible blame in subsequent inquiries.

The Pentagon has not commented on the latest allegations, but has said in relation to previous cases that it did not tolerate abusive tactics.

It added that some allegations in the documents were under investigation.

reference=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4113679.stm