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Abuse 'was for Jessica Lynch'
12/05/2004 13:46 - (SA)
Baghdad, Iraq - A female soldier in the Army's 320th Military Police Battalion took "vigilante justice" on Iraqi prisoners who she believed had raped Army Pfc Jessica Lynch, according to a letter from the battalion's commander obtained by The Associated Press.
Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Phillabaum, commander of 3the battalion, levelled the allegation in a rebuttal to charges against his leadership of the 320th, some of whose soldiers were also charged with abusing prisoners last year at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
Phillabaum made the allegation in an April 12 memo to Lieutenant General Thomas Metz, deputy commander of coalition forces in Iraq. He provided a copy to The Associated Press.
In the document, Phillabaum said Master Sergeant Lisa Girman, 35, and three other MPs from the same battalion abused the prisoners at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq on May 12, 2003.
"When Master Sergeant Lisa Girman returned to Camp Bucca shortly before midnight, she took 'vigilante justice' against EPW (enemy prisoners of war) that she believed had raped Pfc Jessica Lynch," he said. "Four out of the 10 320th MP Battalion soldiers abused some of the EPWs; a clear indication that the abuse was the responsibility of those individuals acting alone and was not condoned by myself or any leader at Camp Bucca."
She cannot recall
Lynch was captured and injured in the early days of the Iraq invasion. She was later rescued by US troops. According to medical records cited in her biography, she was also sodomised, apparently during a three-hour gap that she cannot recall.
The four Army reservists from the 320th Military Police Battalion are accused of punching and kicking several Iraqis, breaking one man's nose, while escorting prisoners to a POW processing centre.
Military officials have declined to name the reservists, but relatives identified them as Staff Sergeant Scott McKenzie, 37; Sergeant Shawna Edmondson, 24; and Spc Tim Canjar, 21. All are from Pennsylvania.
All four denied they did anything wrong and said the force they used was necessary to subdue unruly prisoners.
Phillabaum, who was reprimanded in connection with the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, mentioned the previous abuse at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq in a rebuttal to charges levelled against him in an April report of an Army investigation.
Phillabaum said Girman and the other soldiers who allegedly beat prisoners at Camp Bucca had no authorisation for heavy-handed tactics from their commanders.
- AP
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