American soldier says Abu Ghraib torture staged

by on October 20th, 2004

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1332160,00.html

A US soldier on trial for abusing Iraqi prisoners told a Baghdad court martial yesterday that he hooked up wires around a hooded detainee in a mock electrocution at the behest of military and civilian intelligence officials.

[…]

Yesterday, he told the presiding military judge, Colonel James Pohl, that he had played a role in constructing one of the most harrowing images of the abuse that surfaced last April: the photo of a hooded detainee, standing on a box, with wires emerging from his hands.

“I took one and wrapped it around his finger. Sgt [Javal] Davis put one on his hand, Spc [Sabrina] Harman one on his toe,” Sgt Frederick said.

He said military and civilian interrogators regularly asked prison guards to set conditions for detainees, and he believed that officials wanted him to scare the prisoner to help with interrogation. However, he had misgivings: “I knew it was wrong at the time because I knew it was a form of abuse.”

Etalkinghead Staff