Soldiers held mock executions

2005-05-18 20:31

Washington - Two army officers staged mock executions of Iraqi prisoners in 2003 and were given career-ending punishments, according to military officials and newly released documents.

According to the army field manual, mock executions, where a prisoner was made to believe he was about to be killed, were expressly prohibited by the army interrogation policy as a form of torture.

The details of investigations into the two officers were described in documents sought by the American Civil Liberties Union under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The army provided the documents to reporters on Tuesday.

According to documents, in one case, on July 13 2003, a captain based in Fort Carson, Colorado, took an Iraqi welder into the desert and had him dig a grave for himself, then staged an attempt to shoot him.

The captain was looking for information on a bombing two days before.

Threats to kill man in front of family

The welder was released.

The captain also captured eight people in the vehicle and at one point fired his gun to make the seven passengers believe he had just killed the driver.

He then went to the home of a man, whose identity was provided by the driver, and threatened to kill him in front of his family.

The documents did not say whether the victims had any connection to the bombing.

Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Martin of the army said the captain was court-martialled, convicted of aggravated assault and battery, and sentenced to 45 days confinement and loss of $12 000 in pay.

Martin said the conviction "effectively ended his career".

According to Martin the captain's name was not available.

Martin said the other mock execution involved an army second lieutenant based in Fort Riley, Kansas, who received administrative punishment and an other-than-honourable discharge from the service.

- AP