Author Topic: Garner guilty of prisoner abuse  (Read 1272 times)

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Offline Anonymous

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Garner guilty of prisoner abuse
« on: January 14, 2005, 06:33:00 PM »
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/14/grane ... index.html

U.S. reservist guilty of Abu Ghraib abuse
Friday, January 14, 2005 Posted: 6:29 PM EST (2329 GMT)


FORT HOOD, Texas (CNN) -- An Army reservist was convicted Friday by a military jury of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in a case that damaged America's reputation after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The 10-person jury found Spc. Charles Graner Jr. guilty of nine of 10 specifications, or counts, for his role in abusing detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

The case was to go immediately into the sentencing phase. If convicted of all counts, Graner could receive up to 17 1/2 years in a military prison.

Graner was accused of leading the abuse at Abu Ghraib, which became an international scandal after photographs of naked prisoners in apparently painful or humiliating situations were leaked to the news media.

Graner was the first soldier to be tried on charges arising from the incidents.

The 36-year-old reservist faced 10 counts under five separate charges: Assault, conspiracy, maltreatment of detainees, committing indecent acts and dereliction of duty.

Graner was found guilty of all conspiracy, dereliction, maltreatment and indecent act counts.

He was found guilty of one assault specification, and not guilty of a second assault count.

Graner's court-martial jury, which will decide the reservist's punishment, is made up of combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prosecutors, defense spar in closing
Friday's verdict came after closing arguments were delivered earlier in the day by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

During closing, military prosecutors showed photographs and videos depicting the abuse of inmates.

"What we have here is plain abuse, no doubt about it," said Capt. Chris Graveline, one of the prosecutors. "There is no justification.

"Fortunately, he [Graner] does not have the final word on abuse at Abu Ghraib. You do. And it will speak volumes to the Army, volumes to the country, volumes to the world," the prosecutor said, adding that the "true word" is "guilty as charged."

But Graner's defense attorneys argued the images in the photographs were not as horrible as the prosecution made them out to be. Attorney Guy Womack said military intelligence officers instructed Graner and others to "rough up" inmates in order to extract information from them.

"It was done creatively -- mission accomplished," he said, adding that "the crime" is that someone leaked the photos to the media, "and now military intelligence says, 'We don't know anything about it.'" He said that claim of ignorance is "a lie."

Womack said orders to "soften up" detainees for questioning were "completely reasonable, perhaps not to someone sitting in Fort Hood on a very sunny day, but to someone going through what our soldiers were going through."

The prosecution, which was able to speak both before and after the defense closing statement, retorted, "It was creative -- it was creative abuse."

Parade of witnesses, photos
Much of the evidence seemed to support the prosecution's contention that Graner orchestrated the alleged abuse and humiliation -- and took photos.

Three fellow guards who have pleaded guilty in the scandal testified about Graner's alleged role.

One testified he forced a group of naked Iraqis to form a human pyramid. The image, one of several showing smiling U.S. troops next to imprisoned Iraqis, was shown around the world.

Womack, in his closing argument, said, "They were stacked in a cheerleader stack safely -- nothing wrong, no discomfort, no injury."

Another guard testified Graner was behind another infamous photo, in which Pfc. Lynndie England holds a leash attached to a detainee's neck.

The defense argued it was simply a method to extract a prisoner from a cell.

But the prosecution countered that the defense was trying to downplay the gravity of what happened.

"If this happened to one of our soldiers, there would be no question that this was abuse," the prosecutor said.

The defense argument that Graner was following orders was bolstered during the court-martial by testimony from Megan Ambuhl, one of the former guards who pleaded guilty. She is now a civilian, and acknowledged having had a brief romantic relationship with Graner.

She said higher-ups told people at her level "what to do with the detainees."

But prosecutors argued that Graner and others were accountable for their actions. And the attorneys gave the jury copies of e-mails containing photographs that Graner sent to family and friends in November 2003.

Defense sources confirmed a report Friday in The New York Times that described some of the photos.

The article said one showed "a bound and naked detainee howling with pain, his legs bleeding," and Graner's accompanying message said, "The guys give me hell for not getting any pictures while I was fighting this guy."

In another message, the article said, Graner responded to someone's e-mail about a "Take Your Children to Work Day" by writing, "How about send a bastard to hell day?" He attached "a photograph of a detainee's head bloodied beyond recognition," the article said.

Defense sources told CNN the photos were not presented in open court, but turned over to the jury.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Garner guilty of prisoner abuse
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2005, 02:12:00 PM »
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0, ... 81,00.html

US military 'brutalised' journalists
News agency demands inquiry after American forces in Iraq allegedly treated camera crew as enemy personnel
Luke Harding in Baghdad
Tuesday January 13, 2004
The Guardian

The international news agency Reuters has made a
formal complaint to the Pentagon following the
"wrongful" arrest and apparent "brutalisation" of
three of its staff this month by US troops in Iraq.

The complaint followed an incident in the town of
Falluja when American soldiers fired at two Iraqi
cameramen and a driver from the agency while they were filming the scene of a helicopter crash.

The US military initially claimed that the Reuters
journalists were "enemy personnel" who had opened fire on US troops and refused to release them for 72 hours.

Although Reuters has not commented publicly, it is
understood that the journalists were "brutalised and intimidated" by US soldiers, who put bags over their heads, told them they would be sent to Guantanamo Bay, and whispered: "Let's have sex."

At one point during the interrogation, according to the family of one of the staff members, a US soldier shoved a shoe into the mouth one of the Iraqis.

The US troops, from the 82nd Airborne Division, based in Falluja, also made the blindfolded journalists stand for hours with their arms raised and their palms pressed against the cell wall.

"They were brutalised, terrified and humiliated for three days," one source said. "It was pretty grim stuff. There was mental and physical abuse."

He added: "It makes you wonder what happens to
ordinary Iraqis."

The US military has so far refused to apologise and has bluntly told Reuters to "drop" its complaint. Major General Charles Swannack, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, claimed that two US soldiers had provided sworn evidence that they had come under fire. He admitted, however, that soldiers sometimes had to make "snap judgments".

"More often than not they are right," he said.

On January 2 Reuters' Baghdad-based cameraman Salem Ureibi, Falluja stringer Ahmed Mohammed Hussein al-Badrani and driver Sattar Jabar al-Badrani turned up at the crash site where a US Kiowa Warrior helicopter had just been shot down, killing one soldier.

The journalists were all wearing bulletproof jackets clearly marked "press". They drove off after US soldiers who were securing the scene opened fire on their Mercedes, but were arrested shortly afterwards.

The soldiers also detained a fourth Iraqi, working for the American network NBC. No weapons were found, the US military admitted.

Last night the nephew of veteran Reuters driver and latterly cameraman Mr Ureibi said that US troops had forced his uncle to strip naked and had ordered him to put his shoe in his mouth.

"He protested that he was a journalist but they stuck a shoe in his mouth anyway. They also hurt his leg. One of the soldiers told him: 'If you don't shut up we'll fuck you.'"

He added: "His treatment was very shameful. He's very sad. He has also had hospital treatment because of his leg."

Last August a US soldier shot dead another Reuters
cameraman, Mazen Dana, after mistaking his camera for a rocket launcher while he filmed outside a Baghdad prison.

An internal US investigation later cleared him of
wrongdoing. During the war last April another of the agency's cameramen, Ukrainian Taras Protswuk, was killed after a US tank fired a shell directly into his room in the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, from where he had been filming.

Last night Simon Walker, a spokesman at Reuters head office in London, confirmed that the agency had made a formal complaint to the Pentagon last Friday.

He said: "We have also complained to the US military. We have complained about the detention [of our staff] and their treatment in detention. We hope it will be dealt with expeditiously."

A spokeswoman for the US military's coalition press and information centre in Baghdad hung up when the Guardian asked her to comment.

The top US military spokesman in Iraq, Brigadier
General Mark Kimmitt, later admitted that they had
received a formal complaint and that there was an
on-going investigation into the incident.

Journalists based in Baghdad have expressed concern that the US military is likely to treat other media employees in Iraq as targets.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Garner guilty of prisoner abuse
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2005, 01:15:00 PM »
http://www.theonion.com/index.php?pre=1


American Torturing Jobs Increasingly Outsourced
WASHINGTON, DC?AFL-CIO vice president Linda Chavez-Thompson, representing the American Federation of Interrogation Torturers, released a statement Monday deriding the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, under which American torturing jobs are outsourced to foreign markets. "Outsourcing the task of interrogating terror suspects to countries like Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia is having a crippling effect on the Americans who make a living by stripping detainees nude, shackling them to the floor, and beating the living shit out of them," Chavez-Thompson said. "And specialists within the field?corrosive-material chemists, ocular surgeons, and testicular electricians?are lucky to find any jobs at all. How are they supposed to feed their families?" Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended extraordinary rendition, saying the program will create jobs in the long run by fostering a global climate of torture tolerance.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline thepatriot

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Garner guilty of prisoner abuse
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2005, 04:00:00 PM »
Quote
On 2005-02-13 11:12:00, Anonymous wrote:

"http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1121981,00.html



US military 'brutalised' journalists

News agency demands inquiry after American forces in Iraq allegedly treated camera crew as enemy personnel

Luke Harding in Baghdad

Tuesday January 13, 2004

The Guardian



The international news agency Reuters has made a

formal complaint to the Pentagon following the

"wrongful" arrest and apparent "brutalisation" of

three of its staff this month by US troops in Iraq.



The complaint followed an incident in the town of

Falluja when American soldiers fired at two Iraqi

cameramen and a driver from the agency while they were filming the scene of a helicopter crash.



The US military initially claimed that the Reuters

journalists were "enemy personnel" who had opened fire on US troops and refused to release them for 72 hours.



Although Reuters has not commented publicly, it is

understood that the journalists were "brutalised and intimidated" by US soldiers, who put bags over their heads, told them they would be sent to Guantanamo Bay, and whispered: "Let's have sex."



At one point during the interrogation, according to the family of one of the staff members, a US soldier shoved a shoe into the mouth one of the Iraqis.



The US troops, from the 82nd Airborne Division, based in Falluja, also made the blindfolded journalists stand for hours with their arms raised and their palms pressed against the cell wall.



"They were brutalised, terrified and humiliated for three days," one source said. "It was pretty grim stuff. There was mental and physical abuse."



He added: "It makes you wonder what happens to

ordinary Iraqis."



The US military has so far refused to apologise and has bluntly told Reuters to "drop" its complaint. Major General Charles Swannack, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, claimed that two US soldiers had provided sworn evidence that they had come under fire. He admitted, however, that soldiers sometimes had to make "snap judgments".



"More often than not they are right," he said.



On January 2 Reuters' Baghdad-based cameraman Salem Ureibi, Falluja stringer Ahmed Mohammed Hussein al-Badrani and driver Sattar Jabar al-Badrani turned up at the crash site where a US Kiowa Warrior helicopter had just been shot down, killing one soldier.



The journalists were all wearing bulletproof jackets clearly marked "press". They drove off after US soldiers who were securing the scene opened fire on their Mercedes, but were arrested shortly afterwards.



The soldiers also detained a fourth Iraqi, working for the American network NBC. No weapons were found, the US military admitted.



Last night the nephew of veteran Reuters driver and latterly cameraman Mr Ureibi said that US troops had forced his uncle to strip naked and had ordered him to put his shoe in his mouth.



"He protested that he was a journalist but they stuck a shoe in his mouth anyway. They also hurt his leg. One of the soldiers told him: 'If you don't shut up we'll fuck you.'"



He added: "His treatment was very shameful. He's very sad. He has also had hospital treatment because of his leg."



Last August a US soldier shot dead another Reuters

cameraman, Mazen Dana, after mistaking his camera for a rocket launcher while he filmed outside a Baghdad prison.



An internal US investigation later cleared him of

wrongdoing. During the war last April another of the agency's cameramen, Ukrainian Taras Protswuk, was killed after a US tank fired a shell directly into his room in the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, from where he had been filming.



Last night Simon Walker, a spokesman at Reuters head office in London, confirmed that the agency had made a formal complaint to the Pentagon last Friday.



He said: "We have also complained to the US military. We have complained about the detention [of our staff] and their treatment in detention. We hope it will be dealt with expeditiously."



A spokeswoman for the US military's coalition press and information centre in Baghdad hung up when the Guardian asked her to comment.



The top US military spokesman in Iraq, Brigadier

General Mark Kimmitt, later admitted that they had

received a formal complaint and that there was an

on-going investigation into the incident.



Journalists based in Baghdad have expressed concern that the US military is likely to treat other media employees in Iraq as targets.

"


Shoot all the fucking journalists, its hard to tell who's side some of these idiots are on, I am sure if you talked to the soldiers involved, American soldiers mind you it would be a whole different story.[ This Message was edited by: thepatriot on 2005-03-30 13:02 ]
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
arasota Straight Escapee

Offline Froderik

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Garner guilty of prisoner abuse
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2005, 04:49:00 PM »
Where the fuck is Bin Laden, anyway?

And why did Bush let that rat bastard's family WALK right after 911?

What the fuck was THAT? ::bangin::
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »