'OK' to hold prisoners on leash
2005-01-10 22:59
Fort Hood, Texas - The defence attorney for a soldier court martialed in the Abu Ghraib detainee abuse scandal said on Monday there was nothing wrong with piling up naked prisoners, or holding them on a leash.
"Cheerleaders all over America form pyramids," Guy Womack said in reference to charges specialist Charles Graner piled naked detainees on top of each other and photographed them.
"It's not torture," the civilian lawyer said in his opening statements at the Fort Hood army base in Texas.
"Pyramids can be used as a control technique."
The photographs showing Graner standing by a human pyramid of unclothed detainees are among those that caused worldwide outrage when they were published in April last year.
Another photo shows private Lynndie England, who has since had a child with Graner, leading a prisoner on a leash.
'Tether a valid tool'
Womack said there was nothing wrong with that picture either since "a tether is a valid tool" when dealing not only with prisoners, but also with children.
"You've probably been at a mall or airport and seen children on tethers; they're not being abused," he said.
In his opening statements, prosecutor Major Michael Holley showed some of the notorious pictures and gave a graphic description of the charges against the military policeman who is widely seen as the ringleader in the abuses alleged to have taken place in late 2003 at the prison near Baghdad.
He described how Graner allegedly beat a prisoner with a baton until the Iraqi begged for death, and another incident where the defendant is accused of "forcing men to simulate fellatio."
Soldier 'felt sick'
A soldier called to the witness stand said he "felt sick" when he witnessed some of the abuses, including the incident where naked prisoners were made to stand up and masturbate in front of others who were kneeling with their mouths open.
Questioned by the defence, specialist Matthew Wisdom said he had seen another soldier and had heard England saying "he's getting hard", but that Graner was nowhere to be seen or heard.
Graner, who was clad in his green dress uniform, showed no visible reaction during the proceedings.
He has pleaded not guilty to five charges that carry a maximum sentence of 17-and-a-half years.
'Following orders'
The defence argues that Graner and other prison guards were "just following orders" in order to psychologically break prisoners for interrogations that would help prevent attack on US troops.
Womack said the soldiers took pictures of each other "because no one did anything they thought was wrong."
Three Iraqi detainees were scheduled to be heard in a video deposition recorded earlier.
Among the 24 further witnesses who may be called during the courts martial, are four soldiers who were given sentences ranging from demotion to eight years in prison at court martials in Baghdad last year.
- AFP