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Iraq
Officials open new Iraq prisoner abuse inquiry
Associated Press
Published September 24, 2005
WASHINGTON - The Army has opened an investigation into a Fort Bragg soldier's allegations that he witnessed and heard about widespread prisoner abuse - including torture and a beating with a baseball bat - while serving at a base in Iraq.
The announcement Friday came as a human rights organization prepared to release a report on three 82nd Airborne soldiers' accounts of prisoners being beaten, forced to hold 5-gallon jugs of water in their outstretched arms and denied sleep, food and water.
The soldiers said there was confusion about what types of treatment were allowed under the Geneva convention, and senior officers provided little guidance.
The report was compiled by Human Rights Watch from interviews with a captain and two sergeants who were stationed at a military base near Fallujah.
Army spokesman Paul Boyce said the Fort Bragg soldier, whose name was not released, told superiors about the allegations and was then referred to the Army's Criminal Investigation Command.
To date, the military has conducted 400 investigations of prisoner abuse allegations, and 230 soldiers have been court-martialed or faced nonjudicial punishment or another administrative action.
[Last modified September 24, 2005, 01:01:06]
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