US rights groups call for special prosecutor to probe alleged torture

Sunday April 24, 12:51 PM Agence France-Presse
US rights groups call for special prosecutor to probe alleged torture

US rights groups called for a special prosecutor to look into the alleged torture of war prisoners in the wake of a Pentagon report that cleared top US army officers of wrongdoing in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch say responsibility in the mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere lies in the top echelons and not just on rank-and-file soldiers.

In the Pentagon report, only Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who commanded a military police unit found responsible for sexually humiliating prisoners, forcing them into stress positions and intimidating them with guard dogs, was relieved of her command and is being recommended for a career-ending reprimand, defense officials said late Friday.

However, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who as commander of US forces in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004 had briefly issued a set of tough interrogation guidelines that some say had encouraged the abuse, was fully exonerated, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The probe, completed by Army Inspector General Lieutenant General Stanley Green, comes on the heels of a slew of independent and internal Pentagon investigations undertaken since April 2004, when information about the pervasive abuse at Abu Ghraib leaked into the media.

The White House would not confirm the contents of the latest report, but a spokeswoman said detainee abuse would not be tolerated.

"The United States does not tolerate wrongdoing when it comes to detainees. When we find it we act to hold those responsible to account and take steps to prevent it from happening again," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

But the American Civil Liberties Union denounced the report and called for a special prosecutor to look into torture allegations against US troops. The group has released thousands of pages of internal military documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents "clearly show that the command breakdown that led to these abuses was more than the work of one scapegoated officer," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said.

"As we continue to receive more information, the government cannot ignore the systematic nature of the torture that implicates the military chain of command to the very top."

Separately, Human Rights Watch demanded that a special prosecutor be named to investigate US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA director George Tenet and other top officials for possible war crimes related to the torture and abuse of prisoners.

The rights group argues that evidence indicates that decisions and policies made by Rumsfeld and other high-ranking officials facilitated widespread abuse of prisoners in violation of US and international law, notably the Geneva Conventions.

It cited mounting evidence that they knew or should have known violations took place, and failed to act to stem the abuse, making them legally liable for the actions of subordinates further down the chain of command.

The report also cites Sanchez and Major General Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of a military-run detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Seven rank-and-file soldiers who had been assigned to guard duty at Abu Ghraib have been charged with physically and sexually abusing the detainees. Five of them have already been found guilty or pleaded guilty, while two courts-martial are still pending.

Several officers have received non-judicial punishment.

But top US commanders in Iraq have largely escaped punishment despite allegations some of them might have tacitly encouraged soldiers to rough up prisoners in order to "soften" them before interrogation.

The Green report sought to address these concerns, but found fault only with Karpinski, who is accused of failing to provide proper oversight of her troops, the defense officials said.

Though not released to the public, the document is seen as the military's final word in the year-long saga that has tarnished the reputation of the US armed forces and fueled multiple calls for Rumsfeld's resignation.

According to defense sources, the other officials cleared include Sanchez's former deputy, Major General Walter Wojdakowski, who stood accused of failing to staff the prison with better trained guards, Major General Barbara Fast, the former chief intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, and Colonel Marc Warren, the command's top legal officer.

All continue to hold top jobs in the US military. Sanchez, for example, is now commander of the Army Fifth Corps in Germany, while Fast has been given command of an Army intelligence center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

However, the findings appear to contradict last year's report by an independent panel led by former defense secretary James Schlesinger, who argued that commanders should be held accountable "for their action or inaction."