"Abuse alerts poured in from Iraq"

Abuse alerts poured in from Iraq
By Tom Allard, Defence Reporter
June 17, 2004

"A stream of regular reports to Canberra detailed concerns, including from the United Nations, about US forces mistreating and abusing Iraqi prisoners as far back as June last year.

The new details emerged yesterday as the Defence Minister, Robert Hill, for the first time rebuffed the contention of the Australian military lawyer Major George O'Kane - in a letter to the Red Cross in December - that some Iraqi prisoners were not protected by the Geneva conventions."

<snip>

"Documents tabled with Senator Hill's speech revealed there were 25 reports sent to Defence headquarters in Canberra mentioning concerns about abuse and mistreatment and visits to prisons linked to the Red Cross"

http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/16/1087244980480.html