Few Face Serious Punishment -- Pro Torture Republican Party Fine with that
Army personnel have admitted to beating or threatening to kill Iraqi
detainees and stealing money from Iraqi civilians but have not been
charged with criminal conduct, according to newly released Army
documents. Only a handful of the 54 investigations of alleged detainee
abuse and other illicit activities detailed in the documents led to
recommended penalties as severe as a court-martial or discharge from
military service. Most led to administrative fines or simply withered
because investigators could not find victims or evidence. The
documents, which date from mid-2003 to mid-2004 and were obtained by
five nongovernmental organizations through a joint lawsuit, suggest
that the pursuit of military justice in Iraq has been hampered by the
investigators' closure of many cases without reaching a determination
of likely innocence or guilt. The newly
released reports detail allegations similar to those that surrounded
the documented abuse at Abu Ghraib -- such as beatings with rifle
butts, prolonged hooding, sodomy, electric shocks, stressful shackling,
and the repeated withholding of clothing and food -- but they also
encompass alleged offenses at military prisons and checkpoints
elsewhere in Iraq.[more]