Reply #56: U.S. Soldiers Told to "Beat the F**k Out of" Detainees

[chlamor]

My Comment: Must say I'm pretty amazed at the frankness of the headline. But not surprised by the brutality.

RIGHTS:
U.S. Soldiers Told to ”Beat the F**k Out of” Detainees

William Fisher


NEW YORK, Mar 31 (IPS) - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is charging that U.S. Army documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the mistreatment of detainees in Iraq was much more widespread than the government has admitted..

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The ACLU said the reason for the delay in delivering the more than 1,200 pages of documents was ”evident in the contents”, which include reports of brutal beatings, ”exercise until exhaustion” and sworn statements that soldiers were told to ”beat the f**k out of” detainees. One file cites evidence that military intelligence personnel in Iraq ”tortured” detainees held in their custody.

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Soldiers were told to ”beat the f**k out of detainees”: Army documents include sworn statements that soldiers were told in August 2003 to ”take the detainee(s) out back and beat the f**k out of them.” Perceptions of chain of command endorsement of retribution: A military intelligence team saw soldiers kicking blindfolded and ”zipcuffed” detainees several times in the sides while yelling profanities at them. The investigation concludes that at least three military personnel abused the detainees.

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In a separate development, the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which joined the ACLU in the FOIA case, said ”at least 26 prisoners who died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 were likely the victims of criminal homicide.”

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28099