Detainee abuse in Iraq routine and authorised: rights group (new Report)

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060723/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqrightsabuse_060723021803;_ylt=AgmOUTRdZZL5OV8u8H3O2nes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

Detainee abuse in Iraq routine and authorised: rights group

by Giles Hewitt 1 hour, 7 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AFP) - Prisoners in US custody in Iraq face routine torture even after the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal, with military leaders taking little or no action to curb abuses, according to a human rights group.


In a report released Sunday, based on first-hand accounts from US military personnel, Human Rights Watch detailed maltreatment of detainees that ranged from severe beatings and sleep deprivation to exposure to extreme temperatures.

The abuses were not just ignored but also actively organised by the military chain of command, the New York-based rights watchdog alleged.

"Soldiers were told that the Geneva Conventions did not apply and that interrogators could use abusive techniques to get detainees to talk," said John Sifton, author of the 53-page report.

"These accounts rebut US government claims that torture and abuse in Iraq was unauthorized and exceptional -- on the contrary, it was condoned and commonly used," Sifton said.......

[rodeodance]

1. "It is now clear that leaders were responsible for abuses ...." and NOT

one high level officer has been held accountable.



.....According to the report, detainee mistreatment was an established part of the interrogation process for much of 2003-2005, despite the widespread outrage that greeted the evidence of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, which
President George W. Bush called America's "biggest mistake" in Iraq.

Human Rights Watch said the report showed that criminal investigations of abuses need to follow the military chain of command, rather than focus on low-level soldiers.

To date, not a single military intelligence officer has been court-martialed in connection with abuse allegations in Iraq.

"It is now clear that leaders were responsible for abuses that occurred in Iraq," Sifton said. "It's time for them to be held accountable."

[rodeodance]

2. some discussion here also:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1707059&mesg_id=1707059

[LynnTheDem]

3. But torture is a good thang when we do it.

It's only a bad thang when anyone else does it.

Blowback is gonna be a fucking bitch.

[Solly Mack]

4. and Bush is still free because?

[sabra]

5. Iraq prisoner abuse 'was routine'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5206908.stm

Iraq prisoner abuse 'was routine'

Abuses at Abu Ghraib were blamed on a few rogue US soldiers
The torture of prisoners in US custody in Iraq was authorised and routine even after the Abu Ghraib scandal came to light, a US-based rights group says.

Soldiers' accounts show that detainees routinely faced severe beatings, sleep deprivation and other abuses for much of 2003-2005, Human Rights Watch says.

...
John Sifton, author of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, said the accounts given to the group by former US soldiers revealed the opposite.

"These accounts rebut US government claims that torture and abuse in Iraq was unauthorised and exceptional - on the contrary, it was condoned and commonly used," he said.

[Ringo84]

6. What?!

Then we need to change the routine. Nothing like that should be routine.
Ringo

[Judi Lynn]

7. Iraq prisoner abuse 'was routine'

Last Updated: Sunday, 23 July 2006, 04:01 GMT 05:01 UK
Iraq prisoner abuse 'was routine'

The torture of prisoners in US custody in Iraq was authorised and routine even after the Abu Ghraib scandal came to light, a US-based rights group says.

Soldiers' accounts show that detainees routinely faced severe beatings, sleep deprivation and other abuses for much of 2003-2005, Human Rights Watch says.

Soldiers who tried to complain about the abuse were rebuffed or ignored.
(snip)

"These accounts rebut US government claims that torture and abuse in Iraq was unauthorised and exceptional - on the contrary, it was condoned and commonly used," he said.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5206908.stm

[Mnemosyne]

8. K and R n/t

[saigon68]

9. Only a few frat pranks

To this day no one has been charged with beating this guy to death


and breaking more than 30 bones in his body

[Judi Lynn]

10. Rights group alleges prisoner abuse

Rights group alleges prisoner abuse
eSays detainees were mistreated after '04 scandal
By David B. Caruso, Associated Press | July 23, 2006

NEW YORK -- The group Human Rights Watch said in a report released yesterday that US military commanders encouraged abusive interrogations of detainees in Iraq, even after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal called attention to the issue in 2004.

Between 2003 and 2005, prisoners were routinely physically mistreated, deprived of sleep, and exposed to extreme temperatures as part of the interrogation process, the report said.

``Soldiers were told that the Geneva Conventions did not apply and that interrogators could use abusive techniques to get detainees to talk," wrote John Sifton, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The organization said it based its conclusion on interviews with military personnel and sworn statements in declassified documents.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/07/23/rights_group_alleges_prisoner_abuse/

[bennywhale]

12. Its not torture guys.

Torture is when a brownskinned person with a meat cleaver does it, or a camp german with dentists equipment.

This is wholesome Americans sticking thimgs in people's anuses and beating people to death. Its torture-lite you dummies.

There's nothing wrong with beating the shit our of people, humiliating them and depriving them of sleep and pretending you are about to execute them.

Its torture thats bad

[Lochloosa]

13. Thanks for the clarification....I was beginning to lose faith in my

government. :sarcasm:

[gratuitous]

11. Congress? Anyone?

After all, any blowback from this will harm our troops. What do you say, GOP-controlled Congress? Any hearings? Any investigation? Anything to say at all? Subpoenas? Something? Anything?

This is your mess; gonna clean it up or wait for the grown-ups?