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Officer found not guilty of
Abu Ghraib abuse
Andrew
Gray
Reuters
Tuesday Aug 28, 2007
A court-martial on Tuesday ruled a U.S. Army officer was not
responsible for abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, but was guilty
of disobeying an order not to discuss an investigation into the
case.
Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, the only U.S. military officer to
face court-martial over the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, denied
the charges against him and argued he was made a scapegoat for
the scandal, which provoked worldwide outrage.
The military court at Fort Meade, Maryland, outside Washington,
convicted Jordan of willfully disobeying a superior commissioned
officer, the Army said in a statement.
(Article continues below)
But Jordan was acquitted of being responsible for cruel treatment
of detainees. He was also acquitted of failing to train soldiers
to treat inmates properly.
Prosecutors said Jordan was in charge of an interrogation center
at the prison west of Baghdad. But his defense team said he had
no command authority over anyone at the prison and his job was
to improve living conditions for soldiers there.
Having reached a verdict, the court-martial panel of 10 officers
began considering a sentence for Jordan. He could face a maximum
penalty of five years in prison and dismissal from the Army.
A leading human rights group said prosecutors had performed poorly
in the case and the fact Jordan was the only officer to face court-martial
over Abu Ghraib was unacceptable.
John Sifton, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said
the U.S. government had not been serious about getting to the
bottom of the Abu Ghraib scandal.
"They just slapped a couple of wrists and they cleared all
the officers who were in command of any wrongdoing. There was
no real accountability," Sifton said.
Images of the Abu Ghraib abuse, including naked detainees stacked
in a pyramid and others cowering before snarling dogs, became
public in April 2004.
The widely publicized pictures, taken in late 2003, triggered
international condemnation of the United States and damaged the
reputation of the U.S. military as it waged war in Iraq.
Several low-ranking soldiers have been convicted in military
courts in connection with the physical abuse and sexual humiliation
of detainees at Abu Ghraib.
Two officers senior to Jordan at Abu Ghraib were disciplined
by the Army, but neither faced criminal charges.
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