Soldier pleads guilty to failing in duty at Abu Ghraib

WASHINGTON -- A woman who served as a military police officer at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty, accepting responsibility for not preventing or reporting detainee abuses at the hands of other US soldiers in her company, according to her civilian lawyer and military officials in Iraq.

Megan Ambuhl, 30, of Centreville, Va., entered her plea Saturday morning in Baghdad as part of a deal with prosecutors, who agreed to drop charges of conspiracy, maltreatment of detainees, and indecent acts. In a summary court-martial, which spared her the possibility of a lengthy prison term, Ambuhl was sentenced to a reduction in rank from specialist to private and was ordered to forfeit half a month's pay, a military spokesman in Iraq said.

Ambuhl became the third soldier from the 372d Military Police Company to plead guilty to charges connected with the scandal that erupted in April after numerous photographs of detainee abuse became public. One soldier received a year in prison and another, a supervisor, got eight years.

According to investigative documents, Ambuhl was the least involved in the abuse of the seven soldiers who have been charged. She was accused in large part of watching abusive acts and failing to report them.

Harvey Volzer, Ambuhl's civilian attorney based in Washington, said yesterday that his client witnessed some abusive acts on Tier 1 of the prison but did not report them because her superiors were involved and military intelligence soldiers seemed to be sanctioning the acts. Volzer said Ambuhl regrets not doing something to stop the abuses and shows remorse.

''I think we all came to the conclusion that my client didn't hit or kick a detainee or anything like that," Volzer said. ''But everyone had a duty to protect the detainees, and even if this was authorized from above, in some instances it went too far."

According to investigative documents, Ambuhl was present when some humiliating sexual abuses occurred in the prison's most secure wing, including episodes when soldiers made naked and hooded detainees form a pyramid and then posed with them for photographs. She is also partially visible in a photograph that showed Private First Class Lynndie R. England holding a leash attached to a naked detainee's neck.

Ambuhl was praised by several detainees for treating them well, and in at least one instance she aided a detainee who was having trouble breathing after being punched in the chest by another soldier, the documents showed.

Volzer said Ambuhl's punishment is appropriate because of her limited involvement, but he said he is dismayed by the lack of accountability by higher-ranking officials who he says condoned the abuse.

''My position is that . . . the people who gave the orders should also be punished," Volzer said. ''Since the orders came down from the White House, someone has to bear responsibility for it."

Volzer said Ambuhl is prepared to testify at other military legal proceedings. Additional courts-martial for those involved in the abuses are scheduled to begin early next year.

Ambuhl, who was supposed to have returned home from duty last summer, is expected to return within the next two weeks. Volzer said Ambuhl plans to leave the military and to return to her job as a lab technician.