United States Soldiers Tell of Detainee Abuse in Iraq

From Human Rights Watch, an organization, which in itself is certainly not an opponent of United States rulers:

U.S.: Soldiers Tell of Detainee Abuse in Iraq

Abusive Techniques Were Authorized, Soldiers’ Complaints Ignored

(New York, July 23, 2006) – Torture and other abuses against detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq were authorized and routine, even after the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal, according to new accounts from soldiers in a Human Rights Watch report released today.

The new report, containing first-hand accounts by U.S. military personnel interviewed by Human Rights Watch, details detainee abuses at an off-limits facility at Baghdad airport and at other detention centers throughout Iraq.

“These accounts rebut U.S. government claims that torture and abuse in Iraq was unauthorized and exceptional – on the contrary, it was condoned and commonly used.”

John Sifton, senior researcher on terrorism and counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch

In the 53-page report, “No Blood, No Foul: Soldiers’ Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq,” soldiers describe how detainees were routinely subjected to severe beatings, painful stress positions, severe sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme cold and hot temperatures.

The accounts come from interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch, supplemented by memoranda and sworn statements contained in declassified documents.

See also here.

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