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=> Early alarm bells sounded, ignored

Early alarm bells sounded, ignored

Posted by basima (Guest) besimaraba@hotmail.com - Saturday, May 8 2004, 16:30:17 (CEST) from 194.109.150.39 - a194-109-150-39.xs4all.nl Netherlands - Windows Me - Internet Explorer Website: Website title:

Early alarm bells sounded, ignored Abuse reports began almost at war's start Peter Slevin, Robin Wright, Washington Post Saturday, May 8, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Washington -- Months before Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld publicly acknowledged the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers, top U.S. officials and several international human rights organizations repeatedly warned the Defense Department to halt the mistreatment of detainees. From U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer and Secretary of State Colin Powell to investigators for the International Committee of the Red Cross, a broad array of officials pressed the Pentagon to improve conditions or face a likely Iraqi backlash, officials from the government and the organizations said Friday. Amnesty International sounded an alarm at a Baghdad news conference in May 2003, only one month after the Iraqi capital fell to U.S.-led troops. Three months later, Bremer pressed the military to improve conditions and later made the issue a regular talking point in discussions with Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, said U.S. officials familiar with the discussions. The Red Cross delivered repeated warnings during the same period, its president said Friday. It dispatched investigators to 14 detention centers in Iraq and delivered graphic reports about U.S. mistreatment, including evidence of humiliation, physical abuse and excessive use of force. Even before the Iraq war began in March 2003, human rights organizations had begun to focus on harsh U.S. treatment of prisoners detained for secret interrogation in holding camps in such places as Bagram, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. When U.S. troops began arresting thousands of Iraqis, international monitors were watching. Amnesty International said Friday that its officials had warned U.S. and British occupation authorities about mistreatment of detainees as early as May 2003. The next month, Amnesty wrote Bremer after interviewing former detainees to criticize methods that spokesman Alistair Hodgett said "appear to facilitate cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." In August, Bremer became alarmed about the treatment of detainees and prison conditions. After interceding in one detainee's case, he urged both the U.S. military in Iraq and top Bush administration officials to improve conditions and avoid potential fallout, according to U.S. officials. The most comprehensive evaluation of Iraqi jails was conducted by the Red Cross, which began dispatching staff members by March 31, less than two weeks after the war started. In the next six months, the Geneva-based organization paid 29 visits to 14 detention centers, delivering oral and written reports to U.S. authorities in Iraq after each visit. Red Cross officials made "repeated requests" to the U.S.-led occupation authority to correct abuses, the organization's president, Jakob Kellenberger, said Friday. He said officials had presented "serious concerns" to occupation authorities, reminding them of obligations under the Geneva Conventions and international treaties. "There was a pattern and a system," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, the Red Cross's director of operations. Some of the actions were "tantamount to torture," he said. U.S. military police, along with legal and medical specialists, studied the detention system in Iraq between Oct. 13 and Nov. 6. They found shortages of manpower and training and called for immediate action to address rights deficits. In Washington, meanwhile, the State Department was increasingly troubled last autumn by lengthy detentions and allegations of mistreatment. Powell raised the issue frequently in meetings of the Bush national security team, aides reported. They said he often felt like a lone voice. On Jan. 13, Army Spec. Joseph M. Darby, who was assigned to Abu Ghraib, informed his superiors about abuses there. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez launched a criminal investigation the next day. Rumsfeld was notified, and the Pentagon disclosed the inquiry Jan. 16. That month, the Abu Ghraib photographs that have caused the furor were described to Rumsfeld and the top military brass, Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified Friday. He said they had discussed the content, including forced nudity and mock sexual acts. From the beginning, Myers acknowledged, the Pentagon tried to prevent public disclosure. On Jan. 31, the Defense Department assigned Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba to investigate. Two days later, he visited Abu Ghraib. In late January or early February, Rumsfeld testified, President Bush was informed of the investigation as an "information item." The Red Cross delivered a devastating final report to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq in late February. It described prisoners kept naked in total darkness and male prisoners forced to wear women's underwear, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. In another episode, nine men were arrested and beaten severely, and one of them died, the newspaper said. State Department officials who had heard some details and had pressed the Red Cross to release the report more widely arranged to receive a copy through a back channel and circulated it widely in Washington. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher acknowledged that the Red Cross had delivered recommendations to U.S. officials in Baghdad before releasing the report more widely in February. By then, he said, a U.S. investigation of the Abu Ghraib abuses was well under way. On March 3, Taguba's preliminary findings were presented to Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Later that month, the army's Criminal Investigation Division charged six soldiers with crimes including indecent acts and conspiracy. Bremer delivered a speech April 23 that addressed a growing Iraqi backlash over detentions. He pledged that all new cases would be reviewed by an attorney within three days and that a review of all cases would be expedited. Five days later, over Myers' objections, the photographs of abuse at Abu Ghraib were broadcast by CBS television. --------------------- - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic: Early alarm bells sounded, ignored basima - Saturday, May 8 2004, 16:30:17 (CEST) Re: Early alarm bells sounded, ignored parhad - 05/08 17:15

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