Army finds 49 abuse cases
WASHINGTON -- A report by the Army's inspector general said yesterday that investigators confirmed 49 cases of abuse and identified 45 cases of "possible abuse" of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, but concluded there was no evidence that the abuse resulted from a systematic policy.
The report, delivered at a hastily called Senate committee meeting, prompted angry protests from Democrats who said it contradicted its conclusions by detailing how some soldiers believed that their commanders condoned the abuses.
The report said that of the 125 cases reviewed, 31 were deemed to have no merit. The report did not provide a breakdown of the types of abuse, but Lieutenant Colonel Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman, said in an interview that of the 125 cases reviewed by Army inspectors, at least 39 involved deaths of detainees. She said at least 17 were deemed "natural" or undetermined deaths, five were ruled "justifiable homicides," three were ruled "homicides," and 14 cases were pending.
Investigators also reviewed at least 41 allegations of assault, four allegations of sexual assault, and 19 alleged thefts, Hart said, citing data up to June, the most recent figures available.
The report was ordered Feb. 10, a few weeks after the allegations of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were reported to US military officials in Washington. The abuse allegations created an international scandal months later when photos were published showing US soldiers subjecting the prisoners to humiliating abuse.
Despite concluding that the abuse was not systematic or widespread, the 321-page report presents a list of factors that contributed to abusive behavior.
For instance, inspectors found that some soldiers believed their commanders "encouraged behavior at the harsher end of the acceptable range of behavior in the treatment of detainees," a situation that greatly increased the risk of abusive behavior, the report said. In a few cases, the perception that "other governmental agencies" -- thought to be a reference to CIA interrogators -- used harsh tactics convinced some soldiers that abusive behavior was condoned, the report said.
One officer interviewed told inspectors that there is often a mindset of "do what it takes" regarding interrogations. Inspectors also found that evolving policy statements on the status of detainees -- from enemy prisoners of war to security detainees and unlawful combatants -- added to confusion about how to interrogate them.
In one case detailed in the report, an overweight detainee died during questioning and in another, a detainee was struck on the head. In a third case, a soldier shot and killed a handcuffed detainee after "talking extensively with others in his unit about wanting to kill an Iraqi," the report said.
The report also found that poor training and a shortage of interrogators and translators hampered intelligence-gathering and affected life at the prisons.
Abu Ghraib had only 120 interrogators for 1,500 detainees deemed to possess useful information, the report said. As a result, some detainees had been held at the prison as long as 90 days without being questioned.
Still, the most comprehensive look at Army conduct and treatment of detainees to date concluded that none of the deficiencies found at the prison directly resulted in abuse. "These abuses should be viewed as what they are -- unauthorized actions taken by a few individuals and in some cases coupled with the failure" of their supervisors, the report said. "While even one case of abuse is unacceptable, given the volume of detainees and the potential for abuse in these demanding circumstances, the overwhelming majority of our soldiers and leaders are conducting these operations with due regard" for detainees' rights, the report said.
The Army's inspector general, Lieutenant General Paul Mikolashek, told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday that the number of abuse cases should be taken "in the context of the estimated 50,000 detainees that had been under US control for some period of time."
But Democratic senators expressed skepticism of the report's conclusion in light of the inspector's own evidence as well as an International Committee of the Red Cross report that described detainees being beaten and humiliated in a "systematic" manner as a part of the interrogation process.
"They used the word 'systematic,' " Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said, referring to the Red Cross. "We're not just sort of making this up."
The inspector general's report is one of several investigations into abuse ordered after the photos of detainees being sexually humiliated and abused at Abu Ghraib prison caused a worldwide scandal. The findings of an investigation into the role of the CIA and civilian contractors in prisoner abuse are expected to be disclosed in the coming weeks.
In a separate probe, the inspector general of the Department of the Interior concluded last week that millions of dollars in federal contracts should not have been used to hire civilian interrogators, some of whom were implicated in abuses at Abu Ghraib.
Inspector General Earl E. Devaney found that military contracts for technology and logistics with
CACI had provided services such as "interrogation cell management" at Abu Ghraib, and Lockheed Martin had provided "intelligence analysis and strategic debriefing services" for the US Navy at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"We plan to open an investigation into the conduct of the individuals involved in these matters," Devaney wrote in a July 16 memo. He recommended that the Defense Department "terminate all active orders and contracts with CACI and Lockheed Martin that are not within the scope" of their existing agreements.
