News Intelligence Analysis
This article was originally published by Reuters
Red Cross Was Told Iraq Abuse 'Part of the Process'
Mon May 10, 2004 05:04 PM ET
By Peter Graff
LONDON (Reuters) - The Red Cross saw U.S. troops keeping Iraqi
prisoners naked for days in darkness at the Abu Ghraib jail last
October and was told by an intelligence officer in charge it
was "part of the process," a report leaked on Monday
said.
In the 24-page report, the Red Cross also said coalition military intelligence officers estimated up to 90 percent of those detained in Iraq were arrested by mistake.
The report added to the pressure on U.S. officials by revealing that commanders were alerted to apparent abuses at Abu Ghraib months before they opened a criminal investigation.
The Red Cross, which has special access to war zone prisons under international treaties, said mistreatment of prisoners "went beyond exceptional cases and might be considered as a practice tolerated by the CF (Coalition Forces)."
Abuse was "in some cases tantamount to torture."
Although most of the Red Cross's observations concerned U.S. forces, it also piled pressure on Washington's closest ally, describing British troops forcing Iraqi detainees to kneel and stomping on their necks in an incident in which one died. The International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva confirmed that the confidential February 4 report, initially leaked on the Web site of the Wall Street Journal, was genuine.
During a visit to Abu Ghraib in October, Red Cross delegates witnessed "the practice of keeping persons deprived of their liberty completely naked in totally empty concrete cells and in total darkness," the report said.
"Upon witnessing such cases, the ICRC interrupted its visits and requested an explanation from the authorities. The military intelligence officer in charge of the interrogation explained that this practice was 'part of the process'."
Delegates met prisoners who were being held naked in complete darkness. Others were forced to wear women's underwear.
PICTURES
The Red Cross's visit took place two months before pictures were taken of U.S. troops abusing prisoners, which later led to criminal charges against seven soldiers. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said he was unaware of abuse until the investigation into the pictures was launched in January.
Those pictures appeared in the media last month, causing international outrage and prompting apologies by President Bush and other senior officials. However, Washington has said it believed the practices were isolated incidents of aberrant behavior by individuals and not usual practice.
Although much of the abuse described in the report appears to have taken place in jails run by U.S. forces, the report also describes the death of an Iraqi prisoner in custody in the British zone of Basra last September.
The victim's name is blacked out, but Britain's defense ministry said it referred to detainee Baha Musa, whose death Britain says it has been investigating since last year.
The Red Cross report described him as one of nine men arrested in a Basra hotel and "made to kneel, face and hands against the ground, as if in a prayer position. The soldiers stamped on the back of the neck of those raising their head."
His death certificate said he died of a heart attack, although witnesses saw a body with a broken nose and ribs.
The Red Cross said it had repeatedly brought allegations of mistreatment to the attention of the authorities. In some cases, they changed practices. For example, they stopped issuing wristbands marked "terrorist" to all foreign detainees.
The report says prison guards often opened fire with live ammunition on detainees who "were unarmed and did not appear to pose any serious threat to anyone's life."
The document said coalition intelligence officers told the ICRC that in their estimate "between 70 percent and 90 percent of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake."
Among "serious violations of international humanitarian law" the report listed a failure to set up a system to notify family members of arrests, resulting "in the de facto 'disappearance' of the arrestee for weeks or months."
"The uncaring behavior of the CF (Coalition Forces) and their inability to quickly provide accurate information on persons deprived of their liberty for the families concerned also seriously affects the image of the Occupying Powers among the Iraqi population," it said.
© Copyright Reuters 2004. All rights reserved.
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