Army Faltered in Investigating Detainee Abuse -NYT

Despite autopsy findings of homicide and statements by soldiers that two prisoners died after being struck by guards at an American military detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, Army investigators initially recommended closing the case without bringing any criminal charges, documents and interviews show.

Within days after the two deaths in December 2002, military coroners determined that both had been caused by "blunt force trauma" to the legs. Soon after, soldiers and others at Bagram told the investigators that military guards had repeatedly struck both men in the thighs while they were shackled and that one had also been mistreated by military interrogators.

Nonetheless, agents of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command reported to their superiors that they could not clearly determine who was responsible for the detainees' injuries, military officials said. Military lawyers at Bagram took the same position, according to confidential documents from the investigation obtained by The New York Times.

"I could never see any criminal intent on the part of the M.P.'s to cause the detainee to die," one of the lawyers, Maj. Jeff A. Bovarnick, later told investigators, referring to one of the deaths. "We believed the M.P.'s story, that this was the most combative detainee ever."

The investigators' move to close the case was among a series of apparent missteps...........

http://nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/asia/22abuse.html?hp&ex=1116734400&en=e9e3ad1e6c5e1514&ei=5094&partner=homepage

on Dilwar... see the link below. This is an important story!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1488848

:thumbsup:

..........According to interviews with military intelligence officials who served at Bagram, only a small fraction of the detainees there were considered important or suspicious enough to be transferred to the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for further interrogation. Two intelligence officers estimated that about 85 percent of the prisoners were ultimately released.

Still, most new detainees at Bagram were hooded, shackled and isolated for at least 24 hours and sometimes as long as 72 hours, the commander of the military police guards at Bagram, Capt. Christopher M. Beiring, told investigators. Prisoners caught in infractions like talking to one another were handcuffed to cell doors or ceilings, often for half an hour or an hour, but sometimes for far longer. Interrogators trying to break the detainees' resistance sometimes ordered that they be forced to sweep the same floor space over and over or scrub it with a toothbrush.

The responsibility of senior officers at Bagram for carrying out such methods is not clear in the Army's criminal report....

...prisoners most likely Innocent, sold to the U.S. Military by kidnappers who claimed they were important. Then we turn around a treat them like shit, and not even charge them or give them a lawyer, for over 3 years.

All those people will eventually talk to some sort of media or Human Rights Organization. What the hell are they thinking back at the Justice Department and at the White House? :mad:

"Ahhhhhh, now what do we do with them?:silly: :hurts:

The Times is giving this story some legs. Not on the front page this time, but good to see anyways.

This has been a major Cover Up. There are over a dozen U.S. Prison that refuse Red Cross access. The U.S. Govt., Congress and the DOD know about this but have been stonewalling proper investigations by neutral agencies. Having the U.S. Military investigate itself is a sham.

...missed it on Friday.

May 20, 2005
In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3691477>

Also, here's a sidebar item from this May 22, 2005 article:

<>

Their is a Multi-Media item on the sidebar that tells the history of this investigation, but it's Java, so it won't post.

I did miss it :hi:

"Along the Chain of Command...."

"Due to the lack of clear policy concerning the legality of safety positions and the sleep adjustment schedule, we did not keep records of it."

So. They knew what they were doing was wrong, but, under pressure from superiors who looked the other way, they did it anyway.

There was no confusion along the chain of command, only varying degrees of "plausible deniability."