[News] Detainee Coerced Into Dropping Charges of Abuse Before Release

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URL: 
<http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17515&c=206>http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17515&c=206 


Detainee Coerced Into Dropping Charges of Abuse Before Release
February 18, 2005

NEW YORK--The American Civil Liberties Union today released files obtained 
from the Army revealing previously undisclosed allegations of abuse by U.S. 
soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the documents are reports that a 
detainee who was beaten and seriously injured was forced to drop his claims 
in order to be released from custody.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: <mailto:media at aclu.org>media at aclu.org

U.S. Soldiers Posed in Photos of Mock Executions of Detainees; More Cases 
of Abuse Revealed in Newly Released Documents

NEW YORK--The American Civil Liberties Union today released files obtained 
from the Army revealing previously undisclosed allegations of abuse by U.S. 
soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the documents are reports that a 
detainee who was beaten and seriously injured was forced to drop his claims 
in order to be released from custody.

"The torture of detainees is too widespread and systemic to be dismissed as 
the rogue actions of a few misguided individuals," said ACLU Executive 
Director Anthony D. Romero. "The American public deserves to know which 
high-level government officials are ultimately responsible for the torture 
conducted in our name."

The release of these documents follows a federal court order that directed 
the Defense Department and other government agencies to comply with a 
year-old request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filed by the 
ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, 
Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil 
Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.

In one file released today, an Iraqi detainee claimed that Americans in 
civilian clothing beat him in the head and stomach, dislocated his arms, 
"stepped on [his] nose until it [broke]," stuck an unloaded pistol in his 
mouth and fired the trigger, choked him with a rope and beat his leg with a 
baseball bat. Medical reports corroborated the detainee's account, stating 
that the detainee had a broken nose, fractured leg, and scars on his 
stomach. In addition, soldiers confirmed that Task Force 20 interrogators 
wearing civilian clothing had interrogated the detainee. However, after 
initially reporting the abuse, the detainee said that he was forced by an 
American soldier to sign a statement denouncing the claims or else be kept 
in detention indefinitely. He agreed.

An investigator who reviewed the signed statement concluded that "[t]his 
statement, alone, is a prima facie indication of threats." However, despite 
the medical report and testimony from other soldiers, the criminal file was 
ultimately closed on the grounds that the investigation had "failed to 
prove or disprove" the offenses.

Another file released today reports that U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan posed 
for photographs of mock executions with hooded and bound detainees, and 
that some of these photographs were intentionally destroyed after the Abu 
Ghraib scandal to avoid "another public outrage."

The file concerns an investigation into the discovery of a CD during an 
office clean-up in Afghanistan in July 2004. The CD contained digital 
images of what appeared to be abuse and maltreatment of detainees in and 
around Fire Base Tycze in southern Afghanistan. The pictures showed 
uniformed soldiers pointing pistols and M-4 rifles at the heads and backs 
of bound and hooded detainees, and other abuses such as holding a 
detainee's head against the wall of a cage. One sergeant stated that he had 
also seen pictures on Army computers of detainees being kicked, hit or 
inhumanely treated while in U.S. custody. An Army Specialist and team 
leader with four soldiers assigned under him admitted that similar 
photographs had been destroyed after images of torture at Abu Ghraib prison 
were leaked to the media.

"These files provide more evidence, if any were needed, that abuse was not 
limited to Abu Ghraib," said ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer. 
"Unfortunately, it's now clear that the government failed to investigate 
many of these abuses until the Abu Ghraib photographs came to light."

Other photos discovered during the investigation showed bound U.S. soldiers 
in what is described as "an activity called PUC'ing (Person Under Control) 
a ritualistic activity done on birthdays, re-enlistments, and similar 
events, by fellow platoon members." The photographs showed hooded soldiers 
lying on the ground in the dirt with their hands and feet bound, while 
other soldiers poured water on them. The act apparently simulated the 
treatment of detainees who were designated as needing extra "control."

Additional cases of abuse revealed in the investigative files released 
today include:
    * Senior Psychological Operations (PsyOps) officers in Afghanistan 
reported witnessing indiscriminate assaults by Special Forces on civilians 
during raids in May 2004 in the villages of Gurjay and Sukhagen. Abuses 
included hitting and kicking villagers in the head, chest, back and 
stomach, and threatening to shoot them. An investigation into the 
allegations was closed, citing failure to "prove or disprove" the offenses 
because the victims and villagers could not be interviewed.
    * In Iraq, an investigation found probable cause that two U.S. soldiers 
committed the offense of assault when they punched and kicked a civilian 
whom they picked up at a roadblock, while a sergeant took pictures and 
videotaped part of the abuse. The soldiers then transported the man to an 
Iraqi prison, where they watched Iraqi police further abuse the detainee 
and kick him in the ribs before they left him there. A commander's report 
was pending in September 2004, and no punishment was recorded in the file.

Attorneys for the ACLU and other organizations named in the lawsuit will 
appear in federal court in New York on February 22 to address, among other 
things, the Defense Department's response to the FOIA request. The ACLU has 
previously charged that the department is unlawfully withholding several 
documents pertaining to the treatment of detainees, as well as photographic 
and video evidence. In the last two months, the Defense Department has 
turned over 21,600 pages of documents. However, more than 16,600 of these 
pages were already publicly available on the Internet.

"The Defense Department continues to stonewall and to withhold thousands of 
documents inappropriately," said Jaffer. "Astoundingly, it seems to be the 
Defense Department's view that the public simply does not have a right to 
know what the department's policies were or who put them in place."

The ACLU's Romero urged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday to 
appoint a special counsel to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute 
civilians for their involvement in the torture of detainees.

In related news, a federal judge earlier this month rejected an attempt by 
the Central Intelligence Agency to indefinitely delay the processing and 
release of critical documents pertaining to torture. The CIA has indicated 
that it will appeal this decision. According to news reports, the CIA is 
currently seeking to scale back its role in detaining and interrogating 
suspected terrorists who are being held abroad.

The lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the 
New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, 
P.C. Other attorneys in the case are Jaffer, Amrit Singh, Judy Rabinovitz 
and Omar Jadwat of the ACLU; Art Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; 
and Barbara Olshansky and Jeff Fogel of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

To view the documents, go to: 
<http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/021605.html>http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/021605.html 


More information on the ACLU lawsuit can be found at: 
<http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia>www.aclu.org/torturefoia<http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia> 



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