Home>News Center>World
             
     

    US soldier sentenced to 8 years for Iraq abuse
    (Agencies)
    Updated: 2004-10-21 21:56

    The highest ranking soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal was sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib during a court martial Thursday in Baghdad.

    Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick pleaded guilty before a court martial on October 20, 2004 to abusing prisoners in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. Frederick told the hearing at a U.S. military base in the Iraqi capital he had been trying to humiliate the prisoners and set the scene for interrogation. Frederick is shown following a hearing August 24. [Reuters]
    Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick pleaded guilty before a court martial on October 20, 2004 to abusing prisoners in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.Frederick is shown following a hearing August 24. [Reuters]

    Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick, 38, an Army reservist from Buckingham, Va., was also given a reduction in rank, forfeiture of pay and a dishonorable discharge. The sentencing came a day after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to eight counts of abusing and humiliating Iraqi detainees.

    It was the longest prison sentence yet in connection with the scandal that broke worldwide in April with the publication of photos and video that showed U.S. soldiers abusing naked Iraqis in the prison on the western outskirts of Baghdad.

    Frederick — a military policeman who is a corrections officer in civilian life — acknowledged his part in the scandal, admitting that he hooked up wires on hook wires on the hands of a detainee who was told he would be electrocuted if he fell off a box and that he forced prisoners to masturbate.

    But Frederick also blamed his chain of command, telling the court Wednesday that military intelligence officers ordered prisoners to be publicly stripped and degraded.

    He testified that he was given no training or support in supervising detainees and only learned of regulations against mistreatment after the abuses occurred between October and December last year. He said that when he brought issues up with his commanders, "they told me to do what MI told me to do," referring to military intelligence.

    Defense Counsel Gary Myers on Thursday called the sentence "excessive" and said he would seek a reduction.

    "Punish him yes. But please try to understand the defense's point of view that there is corporate responsiblitity," Myers said. "We discovered that he has no abhorrent tendencies."

    Army Prosecutor Major Michael Holley told the court it was a simple case of right and wrong.

    "He's an adult and capable of telling, as we learned, the difference between right and wrong. How much training do you need to learn that it's wrong to force a man to masturbate?" he said.

    "I was wrong about what I did and I shouldn't have done it," Frederick told the judge, Army Col. James Pohl. "I knew it was wrong at the time because I knew it was a form of abuse."

    He pleaded guilty to eight counts of conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, assault and committing an indecent act.

    Frederick is one of seven members of the Cresaptown, Md.-based 372nd Military Police Company charged in the scandal. One, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., is serving a one-year sentence after pleading guilty in May to three counts.

    In addition, Spc. Armin Cruz, 24, a military intelligence soldier, was sentenced last month to eight months of confinement, reduction in rank to private, and a bad conduct discharge for his part in the scandal.

    A report this year by Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba said using MPs to break down prisoners may have been a technique imported from the Guantanamo Bay prison and possibly detention centers in Afghanistan used to hold suspected terrorists.

    During the proceeding, Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Kramer, a military intelligence soldier called as a witness, referred to an e-mail from the U.S. command in Baghdad telling him to order his interrogators to be tough on prisoners.

    "The gloves are coming off, gentlemen, regarding these detainees," said the e-mail, which was read into evidence. It added that the command "wants the detainees broken."

    Frederick, who was in charge of the night shift at the "hard site" facility at Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, said military intelligence soldiers and civilian interrogators told the guards how to treat the detainees.

    That included stripping detainees, depriving them of sleep or taking away their cigarettes, Frederick said. Investigators wanted detainees "stressed out, wanted them to talk more," he said.

    Frederick said that from his first day at the prison, he saw detainees "naked, handcuffed to their door, some wearing female underclothes." He said the first time he witnessed sexual humiliation used as an interrogation technique came late last October when he saw intelligence officers handcuff naked prisoners together.

    "Nudity was to humiliate and degrade them for military intelligence purposes. It was very embarrassing for an Arabic male to be seen nude by another," Frederick said.

    During an incident last Nov. 4 captured on photos transmitted around the world, Frederick said he helped hook wires on the hands of a detainee who was hooded and told to stand on a box or else he would be electrocuted. An Army investigator encouraged him to abuse the detainee, saying he didn't care what was done to the prisoner "as long as you don't kill him," Frederick said.

    In a Nov. 8 incident, Frederick admitted, he joined another soldier in jumping on a pile of seven detainees accused of rioting. He also admitted to stomping on their hands and feet.

    "I should have stopped it right there," he said.

    But the detainees then were strip-searched and remained naked, even after female soldiers arrived on the scene — which is against military rules, he said. Frederick said he punched the ringleader in the chest so hard that the prisoner needed medical attention.

    Finally, Frederick said, soldiers lined the detainees naked against a wall with bags on their heads and then forced three of them to masturbate.



     
      Today's Top News     Top World News
     

    Coal mine blast kills 62 workers, traps 86

     

       
     

    Free trade pact with ASEAN in sight

     

       
     

    Car production lower than expected

     

       
     

    Farmers sickened by kitchen smoke

     

       
     

    Cathay Pacific targets Air China IPO shares

     

       
     

    Study: US presidential race most expensive

     

       
      Israel missile strike kills Hamas leader
       
      Annan backs stem cell studies, differs with Bush
       
      Older voters worry about Iraq as well as drug costs
       
      Typhoon kills 66 in Japan, 22 missing
       
      US soldier sentenced to 8 years for Iraq abuse
       
      Oil returns to $55 as winter stocks ebb
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Related Stories  
       
    Soldier pleads guilty in Iraq abuse case
       
    Pentagon leaders faulted in prisoner abuse - officials
      News Talk  
      Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
    Advertisement
             
    av一区二区人妻无码| 无码人妻少妇久久中文字幕蜜桃| 亚洲AV人无码激艳猛片| 中文成人无字幕乱码精品区| 国产做无码视频在线观看浪潮 | 久久AV高清无码| 最近最新中文字幕视频| 中文亚洲欧美日韩无线码| 国产av无码专区亚洲av桃花庵| 曰韩精品无码一区二区三区| 最近新中文字幕大全高清| 亚洲国产综合精品中文第一| 国产成人精品无码免费看| 亚洲AV无码乱码国产麻豆| 久久久久久国产精品无码下载| 亚洲av综合avav中文| 午夜亚洲av永久无码精品| 国产成人AV片无码免费| 无码成A毛片免费| 色综合AV综合无码综合网站| 亚洲熟妇无码AV在线播放| 一夲道DVD高清无码| 久久久网中文字幕| 一区二区中文字幕| 天堂新版8中文在线8| 中文字幕一区二区精品区| 欧美中文字幕在线视频| 欧美中文字幕在线| 欧美精品丝袜久久久中文字幕| а√在线中文网新版地址在线| 亚洲乳大丰满中文字幕| 婷婷五月六月激情综合色中文字幕 | 国模吧无码一区二区三区| 本免费AV无码专区一区| 潮喷失禁大喷水aⅴ无码| 免费A级毛片无码A∨中文字幕下载| 无码人妻品一区二区三区精99| 国产在线精品无码二区| 2021国产毛片无码视频| 国产啪亚洲国产精品无码| 麻豆国产原创中文AV网站|