Red Cross: US may have tolerated Iraq abuse -WSJ

NEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) - A Red Cross report delivered to the United States in February suggested abuse of Iraqi prisoners was widespread and may have been tolerated by the U.S.-led coalition, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.

The confidential report concluded that mistreatment in some cases was "tantamount to torture," the newspaper said. The findings were based on inspections and interviews in Iraq by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The February report shows the treatment of prisoners in Iraq differed with statements made by officials in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush that military higher-ups had not condoned the abuse, the newspaper said.

It quoted the report as saying information gathered by the Red Cross "suggested the use of ill-treatment against persons deprived of their liberty went beyond exceptional cases and might be considered a practice tolerated by" coalition forces.
~snip~
more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07304078.htm

GO TO THE MEDIA WITH STUFF LIKE THIS!

Does anyone expect * to do a damn thing otherwise?! :(

The first priority for the Red Cross is to maintain access to the prisoners. If they made all their findings public then they would rapidly be blocked by the rogue governments that they have to deal with. If they want to protect prisoners then the best policy in the long run is to collect evidence and try to apply pressure behind the scenes.

Here is what MG Taguba has to say about that ....

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4894001

IO COMMENTS ON MG MILLER’S ASSESSMENT

1. (S/NF) MG Miller’s team recognized that they were using JTF-GTMO operational procedures and interrogation authorities as baselines for its observations and recommendations. There is a strong argument that the intelligence value of detainees held at JTF-Guantanamo (GTMO) is different than that of the detainees/internees held at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) and other detention facilities in Iraq. Currently, there are a large number of Iraqi criminals held at Abu Ghraib (BCCF). These are not believed to be international terrorists or members of Al Qaida, Anser Al Islam, Taliban, and other international terrorist organizations. (ANNEX 20)

2. (S/NF) The recommendations of MG Miller’s team that the “guard force” be actively engaged in setting the conditions for successful exploitation of the internees would appear to be in conflict with the recommendations of MG Ryder’s Team and AR 190-8 that military police “do not participate in military intelligence supervised interrogation sessions.” The Ryder Report concluded that the OEF template whereby military police actively set the favorable conditions for subsequent interviews runs counter to the smooth operation of a detention facility. (ANNEX 20)


WTF is going on here? It seems as though MG MIller is asking these people to do these things to the prisoners. Why the hell is he now in charge of ALL of the prisons in Iraq? He should be in front of Congress with Rummy, wolfie, Myers all of them! They should all be fired. For God's sakes I hope those Senators actually read this report before they question rummy today. Listening to them on tv yesterday it sounds like a lot of them have not. :mad:

in charge of the hen house?

It seems that when Bu$hler is forced to get rid of someone, he is even more determined to replace that person with someone who is worse.

~snip~
The worst abuses at Abu Ghraib took place in November, after Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, then in charge of the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, recommended changes in procedures intended "to rapidly exploit internees for actionable intelligence," according to General Taguba's report.

In Iraq on Tuesday, General Miller said he had recommended that military police be given a more active role in gathering intelligence, but said the abuses had not been the result.

In providing a detailed accounting of other Army investigations into accusations of abuse, General Casey said the military had conducted a total of 25 criminal investigations into deaths and 10 into allegations of misconduct involving detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan.
~snip~


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/international/middleeast/05ABUS.html

<"to rapidly exploit internees for actionable intelligence," >... Another way to say do what you have to do to them to get them to talk. Lovely.

I usually don't comment on people's appearances, but in this case, I just have to do so. This is one scary scary looking human being. Look at his eyes. Look at his mouth.

~snip~
Sources at the Geneva-based ICRC said the document, covering the period March-November 2003, was genuine. Because of the leak, the humanitarian organisation, which almost never goes public with its findings, has called a news conference for 1400 GMT when the full text will be issued.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07371818.htm

"Our findings were discussed at different moments between March and November 2003, either in direct face-to-face conversations or in written interventions," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross.


He declined to give details of the contents, but confirmed that a leaked ICRC report to U.S. authorities, published Friday by the Wall Street Journal, was genuine.


The newspaper said that the 24-page report described prisoners kept naked in total darkness in empty cells at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and male prisoners forced to parade around in women's underwear. Coalition forces also fired on unarmed prisoners from watchtowers, killing some of them.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040507/ap_on_re_mi_ea/red_cross_prisoner_abuse_1

Nazis. That's what Nazis would do.

a pattern and a system," he said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20040507-0734-redcross-prisonerabuse.html

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040507/ts_nm/iraq_...

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iraqi detainees were subjected to "serious violations," with abuse so widespread it may have been condoned by U.S.-led coalition forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday.

Breaking with its usual vow of silence, the Geneva-based humanitarian organization said visits to coalition detention centers in Iraq, carried out between March and November 2003, had shown infringements of international treaties on the treatment of prisoners of war.

In some cases, the ill-treatment was "tantamount to torture," particularly when interrogators were seeking information or confessions, the ICRC said in a report, parts of which were published in U.S. financial daily the Wall Street Journal.

snip....

"Our findings do not allow us to conclude that what we were dealing with at Abu Ghraib were isolated acts of individual members of coalition forces. What we have described is a pattern and a broad system," he said.

more....

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer first heard of allegations that troops were mistreating Iraqi captives at Abu Ghraib prison in January, a spokesman said Friday, while the Red Cross claimed it had been warning of prisoner abuse since the very beginning of the U.S.-led invasion.

"Ambassador Bremer was made aware of the charges relating to the humiliations in January 2004" when an investigation was announced, spokesman Dan Senor told reporters.

-snip-

The international Red Cross, meanwhile, said Friday it had warned U.S. officials of abuse of prisoners in Iraq more than a year ago, shortly after the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion.

"Our findings were discussed at different moments between March and November 2003, either in direct face-to-face conversations or in written interventions," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

~snip~
more: http://www.nola.com/iraq/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0573_BC_Iraq-PrisonerAbuse&&news&emergency

Bremer knew last November. I can't find the link but it was in LBN Wednesday, maybe?

but the Red Cross said bremer was aware in Novemeber.



"Senor" Sleeze Senor mouth piece for the Viceroy Pontius Bremer I

His quote, “We must “cleanse “ this country of the divisive elements” !

How dare he pretend he JUST heard about all this? Can the media prove that he knew and lied about it? Or once again, if he didn't know.. isnt' it almost worse for him that once again he was out of the loop in his own fucking war???

enough of the drip, drip, drip...........the World needs to know the truth.

Red Cross Sees Torture-Like Abuse in Iraq
By Richard Waddington

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iraqis held by U.S. forces have been subjected to systematic degrading treatment, sometimes close to torture, that may have been officially condoned, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday.

Breaking with its usual vow of silence, the Geneva-based humanitarian agency (ICRC) said visits to detention centers in Iraq (news - web sites) between March and November 2003 had turned up violations of international treaties on prisoners of war.

"What we have observed are situations from a human point of view that are degrading in treatment and in some incidents tantamount to torture," Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of ICRC operations, told journalists.

"Our findings do not allow us to conclude that what we were dealing with...were isolated acts of individual members of coalition forces. What we have described is a pattern and a broad system," he said.

...

According to the Journal, whose report was confirmed as accurate by the ICRC, ill-treatment was most common during questioning, when interrogators were seeking information or confessions. Examples included:

-- "Hooding a detainee with a bag, sometimes in conjunction with beatings thus increasing anxiety as to when blows would come."

-- "Handcuffing so tight that they caused skin lesions and nerve damage; beating with pistols and rifles; threats of reprisals against family members; and stripping detainees naked for several days in solitary confinement in a completely dark cell."

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040507/ts_nm/iraq_abuse_redcross_dc&cid=564&ncid=1480

sounds like Saddam

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.

Thank you.

DU Moderator

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3694521.stm

Friday, 7 May, 2004

<snip>

The confidential file on the treatment of Iraqis held in US custody at Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad was delivered to the Bush administration in February.

<snip>

The International Committee of the Red Cross has a strict policy of never publicly releasing its reports into prison conditions. But its director of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, confirmed that the report leaked to the Wall Street Journal was genuine.

<snip>

In Friday's edition the newspaper says the 24-page report alleges, among other things, that prisoners were kept naked in cells, in total darkness, and without facilities.

It claims that prisoners were beaten, in one case leading to death, and that soldiers fired on unarmed prisoners from watchtowers, killing some of them.

The newspaper also says the report concludes there have been serious violations of the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war.

I watched the entire hearing today and he repeatedly said that this was an isolated incident and definitely not the policy of the army. I suppose he'll say he never knew about any of the Red Cross warnings either. He is an evil man. No doubt about it (Rummy too).

:mad:



Gen. BLUE SUIT MEYERS puppet boy, US military catamite, appointed by Cheney Caesar in
the year of Our Lord 2001

His quotes “Duh, we are winning” and on the increased violence that flared up this month is "a
symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq"



Also on the subject of Fallujah "We went in because we had to find the perpetrators and what
we found was a huge rat's nest that is still festering today. It needs to be dealt with,"

when the WSJ starts to say critical of the Bush admin, you know that's a good sign!!

Thought they would have just blamed clinton for this as they did Enron