Some of the cases since 2002 ruled homicides, Army says

By RICHARD WHITTLE / The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Already reeling from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Army officials revealed Tuesday that 35 other criminal investigations have been launched into reports of abuse of detainees – including 25 deaths – by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002.

The disclosures came as Republicans and Democrats in Congress demanded that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testify on how the abuses of detainees at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison could occur. Some also chastised Mr. Rumsfeld for failing to inform Congress on the issue long ago and pressed for congressional inquiries into the prisoners' mistreatment.

"It's a neglect of the responsibilities that Secretary Rumsfeld and the civilian leaders of the Pentagon have to keep Congress informed on an issue of this magnitude," declared Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Mr. Rumsfeld, in his first public comments since CBS' 60 Minutes II aired photographs last week of U.S. soldiers forcing Iraqi detainees into humiliating sexual poses, called the images "deeply disturbing" and pledged "to take any and all actions needed to find out what happened and to see that appropriate steps are taken."

Two prisoner deaths have been ruled unjustified homicides, said U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity. In one case, a soldier in Iraq was reduced in rank to private and dismissed from the Army after shooting an Iraqi prisoner who attacked him with a rock last September, an Army official said. The other case, involving a CIA contract interrogator in Afghanistan, has been referred to the Justice Department, the official said.

A third prisoner death was ruled a justifiable homicide after an Iraqi was shot while trying to escape, said the Army's provost marshal general, Maj. Gen. Don Ryder.

Twelve deaths have been ruled natural or from undetermined causes, he said, while another 10 deaths are under investigation, as are 10 alleged cases of detainee assault.

Amid congressional outcry over the prisoner mistreatment, Mr. Rumsfeld noted at a Pentagon news briefing that the first of several investigations into the affair was announced by the Defense Department on Jan. 16, that six soldiers are facing courts-martial and that six others have received administrative punishment.

Mr. Rumsfeld offered no apology to Congress for failing to brief members on the abuses at Abu Ghraib, saying the investigation had been publicly announced and an initial report completed in February was still working its way up the chain of command.

The abuse of prisoners by U.S. military police and possibly others at Abu Ghraib – a prison outside Baghdad where torture and political executions were regular events under Saddam Hussein – has led Army and Pentagon leaders to undertake five separate investigations.

Those include a criminal investigation that has led to charges against six Army reserve military police who worked at Abu Ghraib. Four separate reviews of training and procedures being used in holding detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan are also under way.

In addition, Mr. Rumsfeld announced that the Navy began a review earlier this month of detainee treatment at Guantánamo Naval Station, Cuba, where enemy combatants from Afghanistan and terrorism suspects are held, and at Charleston Naval Station Brig. The CIA's inspector general also is probing abuses and a death at Abu Ghraib, a U.S. official said.

Earlier in the day, after an Army briefing given to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said that the Abu Ghraib scandal "does not appear to be an isolated incident" and that "there are additional reports in Iraq and also Afghanistan."

"We have a great sense of revulsion, not only because of these actions, but we also recognize what the dangers are for American troops if they are ever taken prisoners and the kind of treatment that they would be subject to," Mr. Kennedy said.

Administration officials and members of Congress alike said they were anxious about the damage done to U.S. standing and were struggling to find ways to start healing the wound.

A military spokesman in Baghdad announced that U.S. officials had stopped the use of hoods to blindfold Iraqi prisoners. Hoods were worn by several prisoners who were photographed being mistreated.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said he hoped the Senate would adopt a resolution to "say with clarity" that abuses such as those at Abu Ghraib "shouldn't have happened, and it won't happen again."

Mr. Daschle also criticized Pentagon officials for failing to inform Congress of the nature of the investigation into mistreatment of Abu Ghraib detainees.

House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California said Congress "must have a full investigation to get to the bottom of this outrage."

But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, said there was no reason to conduct a special congressional investigation complete with hearings "unless we feel that the investigations weren't properly done and the prosecution won't be properly done."

At his Pentagon briefing, Mr. Rumsfeld declined several requests that he assess the damage done to U.S. aims in Iraq.

But he said that "over time, the world opinion and the opinion in this country has a pretty good sense of center of gravity, and they'll make the proper judgments."

Staff writer Michelle Mittelstadt in Washington contributed to this report.

The Pentagon says investigations are under way of 10 prisoner deaths – mostly in Iraq – and 10 pending cases involving possible assault of prisoners, including one sexual assault. Thirty-five investigations have occurred since December 2002.

A previous Army investigation of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq found flaws in the way the prison was run and a lack of adequate training for military police. Among its recommendations:

• Lt. Col. Jerry L. Phillabaum, a reservist and 1976 graduate of West Point who was commander of the military police battalion at Abu Ghraib, be relieved of command of the 320th Military Police Battalion.

• Maj. David W. DiNenna Sr., the operations officer of the 320th, be relieved of his position.

• Capt. Donald J. Reese, commander of the 372nd Military Police Battalion, be relieved of command.

• First Lt. Lewis C. Raeder, a platoon leader in the 372nd, be relieved of command.

• Col. Thomas M. Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, based in Wiesbaden, Germany, which had oversight over military police at Abu Ghraib, be reprimanded.

• Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, liaison officer to the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, be relieved of duty and reprimanded for misleading investigators.

• Six other soldiers from the 372nd now face criminal charges for a variety of acts, including sodomizing prisoners with broomsticks and forcing naked prisoners to simulate sex.