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Iraqi government condemns Abu Ghraib abuse
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-17 09:00
Salon.com said the material was provided from an unnamed person "who spent
time at Abu Ghraib as a uniformed member of the military and is familiar with
the CID investigation." Salon.com said the material was believed to include all
photographs published after the scandal broke in April 2004, as well as the
photographs and videos published Wednesday by Special Broadcasting Service in
Australia.
Salon.com said the material includes a June 6, 2004, CID report that refers
to 1,325 images of detainee abuse, 94 video files of abuse as well as images of
adult pornography, suspected dead Iraqi detainees, soldiers in simulated sexual
acts, "a soldier with a swastika drawn between his eyes," dogs used in abuse of
detainees and "125 images of questionable acts."
The Web site also said, "It is noteworthy that some of the CID documents
refer to CIA personnel as interrogators of prisoners at Abu Ghraib."
No CIA officers have been prosecuted in the abuse case.
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said the case cited by Salon.com "has been
written about publicly, repeatedly and extensively."
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, testifying Thursday on Capitol Hill,
said the soldiers responsible for the Abu Ghraib abuses have been "punished for
the behavior that was unacceptable."
In the Middle East, where there have been widespread anti-Western protests
recently over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, reaction has been muted.
Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya TV aired some of the Australian station's footage
but refrained from using the most shocking and sexually explicit images. CNN
also broadcast excerpts.
The newspapers Al-Hayat and Al-Sharq Al-Awsat ran some images on their front
pages Thursday, as did newspapers in Lebanon.
The Egyptian opposition newspaper Al-Wafd ran the images on its front page
with the headline, "New scandals from the angels of punishment of the American
occupation in Iraq."
But government papers kept the photos on inside pages, with a brief mention
on the front page at most.
Iraq's acting human rights minister, Nermine Othman, said she was "horrified"
by the pictures and would study whether any action could be taken against those
responsible, even though some offenders already are imprisoned.
The new Abu Ghraib pictures emerged as the United States is trying to reach
out to the disaffected Sunni Arab community, the backbone of the insurgency, in
hopes of encouraging Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and join the
political process.
Most of those who suffered abuse at Abu Ghraib were believed to have been
Sunni Arabs. Sunni leaders have also alleged mistreatment by Shiite-led Iraqi
government security forces, a development that has sharpened sectarian
tensions.
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