 |
 |
 |
| Contact: Paul@propagandamatrix.com Copyright © PropagandaMatrix.com 2001-2003. All rights reserved. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
 |
Guard 'Stomped on Fingers' in Iraq Jail -- Testimony
Associated Press | August 30 2004
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Reuters) - The first U.S. soldier convicted in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal testified on Monday that Pfc. Lynndie England, the soldier photographed holding an Iraqi on a leash, stomped on prisoners' fingers and toes.
Pvt. Jeremy Sivits testified at the resumption of a military court hearing for England, the pregnant 21-year-old soldier who became the public face of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, a scandal that shocked the Arab world and rattled U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq last spring.
England, one of seven military police officers charged, faces 19 counts of assault, conspiracy to mistreat prisoners, committing indecent acts, disobeying orders and possessing sexually explicit material. She could face up to 38 years in prison if convicted.
The hearing, held at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is a preliminary phase of military court proceedings and will help determine if she should face trial. Twenty-five witnesses testified from Aug. 3-7 before the hearing was halted.
Testifying by phone from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sivits told the court that he saw England standing behind a group of prisoners on the floor when he entered the Abu Ghraib cellblock known as Tier 1 on Nov. 8, 2003.
Sivits encountered England, Staff Sgt. "Chip" Frederick, Spc. Charles Graner and others with a group of detainees who had supposedly tried to start a riot.
"They were stomping on the fingers and toes of the detainees," Sivits said, referring to England and Graner. England, wearing a maternity camouflage uniform, listened to the testimony in the Fort Bragg courtroom.
HUMILIATED PRISONERS
England's lawyers have tried to show she was following orders when she was photographed with humiliated prisoners. In one photo she holds an Iraqi detainee on a leash and in another she points at the genitals of a hooded, naked man.
Last week, a panel headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger issued a report accusing the U.S. military chain of command from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on down of leadership failures that created conditions for the abuse.
According to Sivits, a noncommissioned officer who was present told the MPs to "knock it off," but after the NCO left, abuse continued.
Sivits said Graner ordered the detainees to strip down.
"Once they were stripped down," said Sivits, "that's when they put them in a pyramid and started taking pictures." The prisoners were also lined up naked against a wall, at which point, "England began making comments about their penis, things of that nature."
According to Sivits, during this treatment the prisoners all had their heads covered with sandbags, were cooperative and did nothing to provoke the guards. Although he knew what he was seeing was wrong, Sivits said he did not try to stop the abuse or tell anyone what he had seen.
Sivits said Graner told him he had been ordered to "soften up" the prisoners.
Before he
left the prison that night, Sivits was told by Graner "that he didn't see" anything, a statement that Sivits said he took as an order.
In May, Sivits admitted he sexually humiliated prisoners. He was demoted to private, thrown out of the military on a bad conduct discharge and jailed for 12 months.
England's attorneys asked Sivits about his training regarding the Geneva Conventions and the acceptable treatment of prisoners, as part of their larger defense that higher-ups were responsible for the abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Although Sivits said he had never been ordered to abuse prisoners, he said he had never received a copy of the Geneva Conventions or any training regarding the conventions.
England's lawyers had asked to call some 50 more witnesses, including Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, but were allowed only two this week.
---------------------------
E mail your comment on this article to newstips@propagandamatrix.com and have it posted here.
