NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. military police stacked Iraqi prisoners in a human pyramid and attached wires to one detainee to convince him that he might be electrocuted, according to photographs obtained by CBS News, which led to criminal charges against six American soldiers.
CBS said the photos, shown last night on “60 Minutes II,” were taken late last year at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, where American soldiers were holding hundreds of prisoners captured during the invasion of Iraq.
In March, the U.S. Army announced that six members of the 800th Military Police Brigade faced court-martial on charges of abusing about 20 prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The charges included dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, assault, and indecent acts with another person.
In addition to those criminal charges, the military has recommended disciplinary action against seven U.S. officers who helped run the prison, including Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski, the commander of the 800th Brigade, a senior military official said yesterday in Baghdad.
The investigation recommended administrative action against several of the commanders, which could include punishments as serious as relieving them of their commands, said the official, speaking on condition on anonymity.
When the abuse charges were announced, U.S. military officials declined to provide details about the evidence. But yesterday, at a press briefing in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the investigation began in January when a U.S. soldier reported the abuse and turned over evidence that included photographs.
“That soldier said, ’There are some things going on here that I can’t live with,’” said Gen. Kimmitt, who also confirmed that CBS had obtained the photographs.
One picture, CBS said, shows an Iraqi prisoner who was told to stand on a box with his head covered and wires attached to his hands. CBS said the prisoner was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted.
In another photograph, CBS said, prisoners were stacked in a pyramid, and one man had a slur written in English on his skin.
The Army ordered an investigation into the actions of 17 soldiers from the 800th Brigade, which is based in Uniondale, N.Y. Ten were investigated for criminal actions, six of whom were charged in March.
The other seven were the officers who faced an administrative investigation. Those officers have received copies of the probe and will have the chance to rebut the claims, with a decision expected within a month, the senior military official said.
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