Reported Abuse Cases Fell After Abu Ghraib

The number of reported detainee abuse cases against U.S. Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan declined sharply after the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison came to light last spring, with incident reports dropping more than 75 percent from April 2004 to the end of last year and the number of death investigations also waning.

According to an Army report obtained by The Washington Post, 208 abuse cases were reported to have occurred between the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and May 2004, when the Abu Ghraib abuses made international news. The reported abuse cases peaked in April 2004, when there were 25 cases, including four deaths. The numbers fell consistently through December, when the Army learned of six abuse cases. The Army data are complete through the end of 2004.

Army and Defense Department officials said the decrease in reported cases is the result of lessons learned from Abu Ghraib and a tightening of U.S. detention practices since. Although Army investigations have concluded that there was no policy of abuse or abusive tactics at U.S.-run prisons, officials said it is clear that operations were tightened after the abuse scandal.

"There have been changes in policy, procedure and oversight, and there is also a sensitivity to the issue," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. "The number of reported cases has been going down."

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