NEWS:
U.S. Bans Coercive Interrogation Practices
05-15-04
Keavin
.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez, has banned the most coercive interrogation tactics used against
prisoners in Iraq. Banned practices include sleep deprivation and forcing
prisoners to crouch for long periods. The new bans only apply to prisoners
in Iraq, and come after weeks of criticism over the treatment of prisoners
after photos leaked of soldiers abusing Iraqi captives.
The Pentagon said on Friday that the ban
went into effect Thursday, and that Gen Sanchez would not approve any request
to employ such tactics. "Simply, we will not even entertain a request,
so don't even send it up for a review," a senior Central Command official
said during a press briefing on Friday at the Pentagon.
The official said that Gen. Sanchez would
only consider request from interrogators to employ less severe practices
like placing prisoners in isolation for more than 30 days; a tactic that
Lt. Gen Sanchez has reportedly approved 25 times since October.
In related news, a fourth U.S. soldier,
who was fingered as alleged ringleader of the abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison,
will face court-martial on seven charges.
Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr., 35, of Uniontown,
Pa., will be court-martialed on charges including dereliction of duty,
failing to protect detainees from abuse and cruelty, committing an indecent
act, obstruction of justice, assault, and an adultery charge stemming from
an alleged relationship with another guard charged in connection with the
abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
Before being called up for active duty
in Iraq, Graner was fired, for unknown reasons, as a corrections officer
for State Correctional Institution Greene, a maximum-security prison in
Pennsylvania.
With the addition of Graner, four soldiers
have now been charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners and charges against
three more soldiers are expected soon.
One of the soldiers charged, Specialist
Jeremy Sivits, says that Graner was the ringleader of the abuse. He discounted
the claims that the orders for the abuse came from higher up the chain
of command, "If they saw what was going on, there would have been hell
to pay," Sivits says in two legal statements released to the press.
Sivits is expected to plea guilty next
week in accordance with plea agreement he made with prosecutors.
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