<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
Iraq abuse: US general's role revealed<br>
</font><font size=2><i>By</i></font><font size=3> Christian Henderson
<br><br>
Sunday 03 April 2005, 20:19 Makka Time, 17:19 GMT <br>
<a href="??">
<img src="cid:6.2.1.2.2.20050404055815.025fe1a8@66.103.156.66.9" width=190 height=151 alt="[]">
</a><br><br>
</font><font size=1><b>ACLU has accused Lieutenant-General Sanchez of
perjury<br>
</b></font>
<img src="cid:6.2.1.2.2.20050404055815.025fe1a8@66.103.156.66.10" width=1 height=1 alt="[]">
</b><font size=3><br>
A leading US civil liberties group has obtained a document showing that
the former US commander in Iraq sanctioned the abuse that took place in
Abu Ghraib prison.<br><br>
</font><font size=2>The document, which is published on the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website
<a href="http://www.aclu.org/">www.aclu.org</a>, reveals that
Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez authorised interrogation techniques
using dogs, stress positions, sleep and isolation.<br><br>
The techniques are against the Geneva Conventions and are forbidden by US
army regulations.<br><br>
Sanchez authorised 29 interrogation techniques in the 2003 memo which was
released by the Pentagon under the Freedom of Information Act. <br><br>
"Presence of Military Working Dogs. Exploits Arab fear of
dogs," is one technique listed.<br><br>
"Yelling, Loud Music, and Light Control. Used to create fear,
disorient detainee and prolong capture shock," is another.<br><br>
<b>Perjury alleged<br><br>
</b>In addition to Sanchez's memo, the Pentagon also released 1200 pages
of documents which included reports of abuse and sworn statements by
troops saying they were ordered to beat prisoners.<br><br>
<img src="cid:6.2.1.2.2.20050404055815.025fe1a8@66.103.156.66.11" width=190 height=151 alt="[]">
<br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=1><b>US papers uncovered abuses at<br>
Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad<br><br>
</b></font><font size=2>"General Sanchez authorised interrogation
techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions and the
army's own standards," ACLU attorney Amrit Singh said.<br><br>
"He and other high-ranking officials who bear responsibility for the
widespread abuse of detainees must be held accountable."<br><br>
ACLU is accusing General Sanchez of perjury after he denied that he had
permitted such techniques during a Senate Armed Services Committee in May
2004.<br><br>
"I never approved any of those measures to be used ... at any time
in the last year," he said under oath.<br><br>
"Lieutenant-General Sanchez's testimony, given under oath before the
Senate Armed Services committee, is utterly inconsistent with the written
record, and deserves serious investigation," Anthony D Romero, ACLU
executive director, said in a letter to attorney-general Alberto
Gonzales, asking him to open an investigation into possible perjury.
<br><br>
<b>Scapegoats?<br><br>
</b>Romero added: "This clear breach of the public's trust is also
further proof that the American people deserve the appointment of an
independent special counsel by the attorney-general."<br><br>
The document contradicts US army and Defence Department claims the Abu
Ghraib abuse was carried out by individuals acting without
orders.<br><br>
<img src="cid:6.2.1.2.2.20050404055815.025fe1a8@66.103.156.66.12" width=190 height=151 alt="[]">
<br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=1><b>Charles Graner's lawyer says
top<br>
officers countenanced torture<br>
</b></font><font size=2>Those accused of abusing prisoners say they were
scapegoats for high-ranking officers and politicians who ordered that
detainees be tortured so intelligence gathering in Iraq could be
improved.<br><br>
"The government is asking a corporal to take the hit for them,"
the lawyer of Charles Graner said after his client was given a 10-year
prison sentence in January for being a ring-leader in the abuse scandal.
<br><br>
"The chain of command says, 'We didn't know anything about this
stuff'. You know that is a lie," the lawyer said.<br><br>
<b>No surprise<br><br>
</b>Reacting to the development, Alaa Shalabi, a senior researcher with
the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Egypt, said the revelations
were not a surprise.<br><br>
"We have proof that these kinds of techniques were practised,
especially in Abu Ghraib," he said. "Such actions raise
suspicions about the whole chain of command all the way to [US President
George] Bush. These practices have been justified by the
Pentagon."<br><br>
Shalabi said he thought abuses were common in all of the detention camps
run by the US military.<br><br>
The US Defence Department said they will respond to the issue in due
course of time.<br><br>
</font><font size=3>Aljazeera<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3>
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>