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New report has more evidence of prisoner abuse

WASHINGTON, JULY 23. Thirty-nine prisoners have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since the fall of 2001 and there have been 94 cases of proven or suspected abuse, the Army said in a new report, giving a more precise and higher estimate of the scale of the abuse.

The Army Inspector General's report also gives new details about the alleged abuses, including evidence that troops conspired to make Iraqi prisoners jump off a bridge, that one interrogator hit a prisoner on the head during questioning and that a sergeant told subordinates to "rough up" detenus.

`No systemic problems'

Still, the Army report concludes there were no systemic problems that caused or contributed to the abuses.

All of the wrongdoing was committed by soldiers who violated Army rules and regulations, at times aided by commanders who either encouraged abuses or looked the other way, Inspector General, Lt. Gen. Paul Mikolashek, said on Thursday. Senate Democrats, pointing to deficiencies in training and inconsistencies in doctrine outlined in the Army report, immediately challenged that finding.

"It is difficult to believe there were not systemic problems with our detention and interrogation operations," Michigan Senator, Carl Levin, top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said at a hastily called hearing.

The acting Army secretary and its top general said they took responsibility for the abuses while insisting that they were not sanctioned by the Army leadership.

"These actions, while regrettable, are aberrations," said the Acting Army Secretary, Les Brownlee.

The Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, said mistakes were understandable, though not excusable. Troops must be trained to contain their anger at prisoners who had been trying to kill them, he said. — AP

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