Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 30. April 2004 / Time Line April 30, 2004
Version 3.004/30/2004
Anger Over US Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners
by Stuart Reid
© 2004 The Scotsman (Edinburgh)
The United States was facing mounting outrage today over pictures
of US troops torturing Iraqi prisoners.
Seventeen soldiers have been suspended, including one senior
officer, over the abuse. Six are facing court martial.
America's senior general in Baghdad immediately denounced the
actions of the troops.
But outraged politicians said today that the damage had already
been done.
Former defense and Foreign Office minister Doug Henderson said: "It
will do the Americans no good among moderate Arab people, and I
think people in the West will also think this behavior was
disgusting.
"This is the sort of thing you expect from the troops of a tinpot
dictator, not a sophisticated Western army. The soldiers involved
need to be prosecuted and punished." Labor MP Ronnie Campbell,
whose son Barry served as a Royal Marine in the invasion of Iraq,
added: "This is disgraceful and outrageous.
"You might expect this from Saddam Hussein and his troops, but not
from the Americans."
And Edinburgh MP Mark Lazarowicz said the incident emphasized the
need for an early transfer of power to the Iraqi people.
The soldiers at a prison outside Baghdad were accused of forcing
Iraqi prisoners into acts of sexual humiliation and other
abuses.
The charges, first announced by the military in March, were
documented by photographs taken by guards in the prison.
Brigadier General Mark Kimmet appealed to the American people to
keep faith with their troops in Iraq.
Some of the photographs, and descriptions of others, were broadcast
in the US on Wednesday by a CBS television news program and were
verified by military officials.
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/apmethods/apstory?urlfeed=D82932O80.xml
Accused Soldier Wrote That Iraq Prison Lacked Rules,
Rights
by David Dishneau
© 2004 The Associated Press
Hagerstown, Maryland -- Friday, April 30, 2004 -- (AP) -- A soldier
facing a court-martial for allegedly abusing Iraqi war prisoners
says commanders ignored his requests for POW rules and scolded him
for questioning the inmates' harsh treatment.
In a journal he started after military investigators first
questioned him in January, Army Reserves Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip"
Frederick wrote that Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad lacked the
humane standards of the Virginia state prison where he worked in
civilian life.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3672117.stm
US Acts After Iraq Prisoner Abuse
© 2004 British Broadcasting Company (BBC)
Friday, April 30, 2004 -- A US military investigation has
recommended disciplinary action against several of its officers for
the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops.
Brigadier General Janice Karpinski is among seven officers being
investigated following claims that soldiers under their command
mistreated detainees.
The officers have already been suspended from duty.
[A BBC Video on this controversy is here]:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/40100000/rm/_40100487_iraq11_slee_vi.ram
The US military says it is appalled by the behavior of its
soldiers, but insists this is an isolated case.
However, the fact that Americans may have humiliated Iraqis in the
very prison where Saddam Hussein's regime tortured inmates will be
badly received not only in Iraq, but across the region, says the
BBC's Ian Pannell in Washington.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1207045,00.html
Blair 'appalled' By Iraq Prison Torture
by Matthew Tempest
© 2004 The Guardian (UK)
Downing Street today said the prime minister was "appalled" by
pictures that emerged last night of Iraqi prisoners being tortured
by American soldiers.
No 10 said the behaviour shown -- with Iraqis stripped naked and
hooded and being tormented by their captors -- was in "direct
contravention of all policy under which the coalition
operates".
Blair's official spokesman said: "The US army spokesman has said
this morning that he is appalled, that those responsible have let
their fellow soldiers down, and those are views that we would
associate the UK government with."
Asked if the prime minister was appalled, the spokesman replied:
"The government view is the same as that of the US army."
Earlier this week the prime minister had gone out on a limb to
unequivocally defend the US army and its controversial tactics
during the siege of Fallujah, which is estimated to have left
around 800 civilians dead. The US strategy has provoked intense
criticism from his own backbenchers, the Conservatives and the
Liberal Democrats.
The pictures -- believed to date from November or December last
year, but only broadcast last night.
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