Fossil
05-07-2004, 04:01 PM
Red Cross saw 'widespread abuse'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3694521.stm
New details have emerged from a Red Cross report into incidences of alleged Iraqi prisoner abuse by US soldiers.
The confidential file on the treatment of Iraqis held in US custody at Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad was delivered to the Bush administration in February.
The Wall Street Journal it has seen the report in which the Red Cross describes the abuse as widespread and, in some cases, tantamount to torture.
The Red Cross says it repeatedly warned Washington about the mistreatment.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has a strict policy of never publicly releasing its reports into prison conditions. But its director of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, confirmed that the report leaked to the Wall Street Journal was genuine.
Inmates 'fired at'
In Friday's edition the newspaper says the 24-page report alleges, among other things, that prisoners were kept naked in cells, in total darkness, and without facilities.
It claims that prisoners were beaten, in one case leading to death, and that soldiers fired on unarmed prisoners from watchtowers, killing some of them.
The newspaper also says the report concludes there have been serious violations of the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war.
COALITION-RUN JAILS
8,000 prisoners held in 14 separate jails
Three main prisons - Abu Ghraib and Camp Cropper in west Baghdad; Camp Bucca, near Umm Qasr - hold inmates for extended periods
Almost all inmates are "security internees"- suspected of posing a threat to the coalition
Chaos at Abu Ghraib prison
Inmate: 'Treated like dogs'
In pictures: Prisoner abuse
The Red Cross is the body mandated by the Geneva Conventions to visit prisoners of war.
According to the newspaper, the report says that the ill-treatment went beyond exceptional cases and was widely tolerated, especially with regard to extracting information from Iraqis detained in connection with suspected security offences.
The International Red Cross report differs greatly from the position of the US government which has been insisting that any alleged abuses were isolated incidents.
US President George W Bush was forced to apologise for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners in US custody after photographs were released showing US troops apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners.
'Broad pattern'
Mr Kraehenbuehl said that the alleged abuses were not isolated cases and not particular to the Abu Ghraib prison.
"We were dealing here with a broad pattern, not individual acts. There was a pattern and a system," he said.
Mr Kraehenbuehl said that over the last year the Red Cross had repeatedly warned the Bush administration that the conditions at the Abu Ghraib needed changing.
"Our findings were discussed at different moments between March and November 2003, either in direct face-to-face conversations or in written interventions," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3694521.stm
New details have emerged from a Red Cross report into incidences of alleged Iraqi prisoner abuse by US soldiers.
The confidential file on the treatment of Iraqis held in US custody at Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad was delivered to the Bush administration in February.
The Wall Street Journal it has seen the report in which the Red Cross describes the abuse as widespread and, in some cases, tantamount to torture.
The Red Cross says it repeatedly warned Washington about the mistreatment.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has a strict policy of never publicly releasing its reports into prison conditions. But its director of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, confirmed that the report leaked to the Wall Street Journal was genuine.
Inmates 'fired at'
In Friday's edition the newspaper says the 24-page report alleges, among other things, that prisoners were kept naked in cells, in total darkness, and without facilities.
It claims that prisoners were beaten, in one case leading to death, and that soldiers fired on unarmed prisoners from watchtowers, killing some of them.
The newspaper also says the report concludes there have been serious violations of the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war.
COALITION-RUN JAILS
8,000 prisoners held in 14 separate jails
Three main prisons - Abu Ghraib and Camp Cropper in west Baghdad; Camp Bucca, near Umm Qasr - hold inmates for extended periods
Almost all inmates are "security internees"- suspected of posing a threat to the coalition
Chaos at Abu Ghraib prison
Inmate: 'Treated like dogs'
In pictures: Prisoner abuse
The Red Cross is the body mandated by the Geneva Conventions to visit prisoners of war.
According to the newspaper, the report says that the ill-treatment went beyond exceptional cases and was widely tolerated, especially with regard to extracting information from Iraqis detained in connection with suspected security offences.
The International Red Cross report differs greatly from the position of the US government which has been insisting that any alleged abuses were isolated incidents.
US President George W Bush was forced to apologise for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners in US custody after photographs were released showing US troops apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners.
'Broad pattern'
Mr Kraehenbuehl said that the alleged abuses were not isolated cases and not particular to the Abu Ghraib prison.
"We were dealing here with a broad pattern, not individual acts. There was a pattern and a system," he said.
Mr Kraehenbuehl said that over the last year the Red Cross had repeatedly warned the Bush administration that the conditions at the Abu Ghraib needed changing.
"Our findings were discussed at different moments between March and November 2003, either in direct face-to-face conversations or in written interventions," he said.