NY Times claims more abuse
2004-05-26 20:00
New York - Abuse and even the deaths of prisoners in United States military custody in Iraq and Afghanistan have been more widespread than reported, The New York Times said on Wednesday.
In Iraq, the cases date back to April 15 2003, just after the fall of Baghdad, and go up to April of this year when an Iraqi detained by navy commandos died in a suspected homicide, the report was quoted as saying.
The report, dated May 5, said interrogators from a national guard unit attached to the 3rd Infantry division had "forced into asphyxiation numerous detainees in an attempt to obtain information" during one 10-week period last year, said the newspaper.
The report was prepared by the army's criminal investigation command as the US military grappled with the mounting scandal about abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison near Baghdad.
It lists the status of investigations into three dozen cases, including some at Abu Ghraib.
The report confirms the military is investigating nine suspicious homicides of prisoners held by America in Iraq and Afghanistan since the end of 2002.
"But the details paint a broad picture of misconduct and show that, in many cases among the 37 prisoners who have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, the army did not conduct autopsies and says it cannot determine the causes of the deaths," said the New York Times.