Key excerpts from the Taguba report /
Updated: 6:20 p.m. ET May 03,
2004
The following are some of the key excerpts from the report prepared
by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba on alleged abuse of prisoners by members of
the 800th
Military
Police Brigade at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad. The report was ordered
by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of Joint Task Force-7, the senior U.S.
military official in Iraq, following persistent allegations of human rights
abuses at the prison.
Between October and December 2003, at the Abu Ghraib Confinement
Facility (BCCF), numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal
abuses were inflicted on several detainees. This systemic and illegal
abuse of detainees was intentionally perpetrated byseveral members of
the military police guard force (372nd Military Police Company, 320thMilitary
Police Battalion,
800th MP Brigade), in Tier (section) 1-A of the Abu Ghraib Prison (BCCF).
In addition, several detainees also described the following acts of abuse, which
under the circumstances, I find credible based on the clarity of their statements
and supporting evidence provided by other witnesses
a. Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;
b. Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;
c. Pouring cold water on naked detainees;
d. Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair;
e. Threatening male detainees with rape;
f. Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee
who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;
g. Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom
stick.
h. Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees
with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.
The intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included
the following acts:
a. Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their
naked feet;
b. Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;
c. Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions
for photographing;
d. Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked
for several days at a time;
e. Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear;
f. Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while
being photographed and videotaped;
g. Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;
h. Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head,
and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture;
i. Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of
a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and
then photographing him naked;
j. Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s
neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture;
k. A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee;
l. Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate
and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring
a detainee;
m. Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.
These findings are amply supported by written confessions provided by several
of the suspects, written statements provided by detainees, and witness statements.
The various detention facilities operated by the 800th MP Brigade have routinely held persons brought to them by Other Government Agencies (OGAs) without accounting for them, knowing their identities, or even the reason for their detention. The Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center (JIDC) at Abu Ghraib called these detainees “ghost detainees.” On at least one occasion, the 320th MP Battalion at Abu Ghraib held a handful of “ghost detainees” (6-8) for OGAs that they moved around within the facility to hide them from a visiting International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) survey team. This maneuver was deceptive, contrary to Army Doctrine, and in violation of international law.
-----------------------------
The following was added, somewhat sarcastically, by Martin R. Carbone (5/4/04)
Is it possible that the troops were encouraged to do "God's work" by engaging in a "little innocent hazing" in an effort to help gain "valuable information" which would help us "end the war and liberate Iraq"?
I can almost hear that message being relayed from Commander-In-Chief Bush down the chain of command.