9.15 ACLU/FOIA: New Documents Contradict Army Report Denying Systemic...

[Poll_Blind]

New Documents Contradict Army Report Denying Systemic Failures in Treatment of Detainees
September 15, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Troops Say They Used Techniques "Remembered From the Movies"; Deaths Could Have Been Avoided with Better Training

NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today made public more than 1,800 pages documenting the investigation into at least three military units' detainee operations in Iraq. Among the documents were reports of untrained soldiers using interrogation techniques they "remembered from the movies," as well as reports of deaths that could have been prevented with proper training.

-snip- The documents released today were interviews of military personnel from the 4th Infantry Division, the 720th Military Police Battalion and the 1st Infantry Division which served in Iraq. They demonstrate a systemic failure to train soldiers on how to treat detainees.

-snip- Among the documents released today were soldiers' accounts of:

-snip- "officers and NCO's at point of capture engaged in interrogations using techniques they literally remembered from movies." -snip-

-snip- Systemic Lack of Training in the Treatment of Detainees: One interrogator complained that soldiers conducting raids are not well trained on how detainees must be treated in accordance with the laws of war, and that he "had to go to SJA many times about detainees arriving at the cage badly beaten. Many beatings occurred after the detainees were zip-tied by some units in 4ID <4th Infantry Division>." -snip-

-snip- Detainee Deaths Result From Lack of Training: Two separate detainee deaths are documented as having been avoidable had the soldiers been better trained. "The detainee hands were tied and between the wire and the soldier shot and killed the detainee. This incident could have been prevented if he had better training," said one soldier with the 4th Infantry Division. -snip-

-snip- "These documents are further proof that the government's investigative reports regarding detainee abuse are a whitewash," said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU. "In the face of mounting evidence that systemic failures caused the abuse of detainees, the government's attempts to assign blame for that abuse to a handful of rogue soldiers are unavailing." -snip-

Click here to read released documents(requires Acrobat reader).

Story just breaking so I haven't had time to read full report (300+ pages, iirc).

PB

[Trevelyan]

1. I Guess Bush is Still Defying the Court Order to Release 4 Videos and 157

Photographs of rape, sodomy, beatings, torture and murder of men, women and children as young as 8 years old in the first release of the Abu Ghraib photographic evidence of atrocities. World Health Organization WHO article in 2004 said they were desperately trying to find out the fate of 100 children being held at Abu Ghraib. Comment on Kos diary said that she saw photos or video of children at Easter Egg hunt at Gitmo and said it was hard to remember that there were children at Guantanamo Bay. That is the only time I have heard that about Gitmo and can't remember the diary name. Anyone else have information.

Belmarsh in Britain is just as bad. http://www.Cageprisoners.com is a UK messageboard website by Arabs about Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and Belmarsh torture and trying to help the victims. They have a flyer with a quote from Terry Waite who was held hostage for 2 years in the Iranian American hostage situation under President Carter and he is trying to help fellow innocent victims of misprison and torture.

[Poll_Blind]

5. You can only stall for so long with a judge who just may be gunning for ya

A few days ago, I posted "Abu Ghraib: What the hell is Judge Hellerstein doing?", in which I openly wonder why the judge is taking so long on this latest play by the government. I was doing research this morning and I noticed that the good judge changed the set of rules which govern his courtroom- the day after the government's last pleading!

Could this Confidentiality Provision be a new way the judge is trying to get the government from stalling by classifying everything under the sun?

"...Accordingly, no protective order shall be submitted that provides for sealing of documents or other information in the connection with a submission to the court, except following a motion supported by competent evidence showing that sealing is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve the interest."

Looks like he's enacting rules to force the government to pick up the pace.

Hope it works...

PB

[librechik]

21. exactly--these guys could drag thing out till the next century!

we need justice now!

[Trevelyan]

2. Kids sodomized at Abu Ghraib, Pentagon has the videos

by Gryn
Wed Jul 14th, 2004 at 20:33:32 PDT
(From the diaries -- kos)

Seymour Hersh says the US government has videotapes of boys being sodomized at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. "The worst is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking," the reporter told an ACLU convention last week. Hersh says there was "a massive amount of criminal wrongdoing that was covered up at the highest command out there, and higher."

This is a summary of Hersh speaking at the ACLU 2004 America At A Crossroads conference according to EdCone.com (via Oliver Willis). I verified by watching the video myself (it starts at 1:07, the "worse stuff" part starts at 1:30). There's more bad stuff in here, read Ed Cone's summary.

I'll try transcribing some of the more important bits.

Some of the worse that happened that you don't know about, ok. Videos, there are women there. Some of you may have read they were passing letters, communications out to their men. This is at Abu Ghraib which is 30 miles from Baghdad <...>The women were passing messages saying "Please come and kill me, because of what's happened". Basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys/children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. The worst about all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror it's going to come out.

It's impossible to say to yourself how do we get there? who are we? Who are these people that sent us there? Chilling.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/14/193750/666

[Trevelyan]

3. Doctors and nurses participating in and supervising the torture

http://newstandardnews.net/promo2/?action=show_contact_us~~~

Doctors and nurses participating in and supervising the torture with information they gained in their capacity as caregivers.A PDF file on The International Red Cross site was shocked when they witnessed medical personnel observing and taking notes during the torture.

http:www.theDoodAbides.com/ had a section on Ethical Biscuits and I used his email links which he said were hard to find on the Ethical Societies for Physicians, Psychiatrists andand Lawyers to condemn this practice.

I did not know where the term Biscuits came from and like MK-ULTRA's Monarch program of the torture mind-control of American and Canadian children who have told their stories on raven1.net and ACHES, the names of these programs and what they do are sickening in the extreme.
Cynthia McKinney mentioned MK-ULTRA in her speech that was cut off by C-SPAN in relation to the Concentration Camps that Katrina victims are being sent to.
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=8235

September Monday 12th 2005 (18h52) :
Cynthia Mcinney censored in congressional record- Is someone afraid of the word IMPEACHMENT?

I hope that the disgust that should have accompanied the release of the horrible photos from Abu Ghraib and they were the ones that
were not as horrible as the Bush Regime is defying a court order to keep from the American public, will finally bring down the Bush amily Evil Empire and its Crimes Against Humanity.

My letter sent to Congresspersons and media. http://www.Congress.org/

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cyberpj]

6. Nominated. Vote this one up on the front page people....... nt.

[TOOLZ]

7. Nominated. How do you need training...

...to NOT tie up a detainee and shoot them?

[Poll_Blind]

8. It is a seriously weak argument on the government's part...

All military are taught about the Geneva Convention- it's bullshit that they had no idea what they were doing was wrong.

PB

[Trillo]

9. Bingo! They must have been "following orders." nt

[AuntiBush]

10. Agreed!

Next thing you know, they'll be blaming this on Clinton, too!

[Roland99]

11. "Rummy, you're doing a heckuva job."

This President hasn't the first clue as to what constitutes a "heckuva job" as he's never been held to any decent level of performance himself.

[struggle4progress]

12. kick

[sabra]

13. ACLU releases Iraq prisoner abuse report documents

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N1598778.htm

ACLU releases Iraq prisoner abuse report documents


NEW YORK, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Some U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq interrogated prisoners "using techniques they literally remembered from the movies," according to documents from a U.S. military report released by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The civil rights group released on Thursday 1,800 pages of documents obtained from the government as part of a federal lawsuit seeking information on the treatment of U.S.-held detainees.

The U.S. military was widely criticized after pictures of guards abusing detainees in Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad were made public in April 2004.

...

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said the documents were evidence of widespread abuse.

"When troops rely on movies to learn interrogation techniques rather than proper training, our government has failed and the blame is on Washington, not Hollywood," he said.

[me b zola]

14. Bullshit! Did that soldier go to Iraq with a dog collar??

Movies my ass!

[countmyvote4real]

15. What about the pictures and videos?

When will that documentation be released?

[Poll_Blind]

16. Dupe, see inside for link with more information...

Right here.

PB

[sabra]

17. oops, thanks

it's hard to search for things when we are in level 3 :-)

[truebrit71]

18. This maybe a ploy by the ACLU to encourage the judge to get off his...

...backside and order the government to obey the existing court order to release the pictures and tapes...

[Poll_Blind]

19. I'm starting to think the judge is noosing the government ((link)

He's changed the rules of his court room, for instance, to make it harder for the government to madly try to classify everything they can.

PB

[truebrit71]

20. Let's hope so...

..I want to see these criminals try and spin their way out of child-raping... :grr:

[Up2Late]

22. Damn, they didn't say WHICH movies! What was it? Lethal Weapon?

Rambo?

But seriously, either this Lieutenant General (which I think is 3 Stars) is guilty of a Cover up, Obstruction of Justice, or maybe someone at the White House or the Pentagon did some editing of the report (like they did with the EPA reports) which would make them part of a Cover-up, and we all know how much they hate cover-ups in Washington.

[Poll_Blind]

23. I have a frightening idea Reservoir Dogs was one... n/t

PB