US Soldiers Charged With Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners

BAGHDAD, 22 March 2004 — The United States military charged six soldiers with abuses against Iraqi prisoners, US media reported yesterday. The troops — all members of the US military police — are accused of maltreatment, assault and cruelty against of 20 detainees in Baghdad’s Abu Ghoraib prison west of Baghdad, a military spokesman said without releasing any further details.

Another 11 soldiers were suspended from duties, the spokesman said. A US newspaper quoted an Iraqi who said he was forced by soldiers to remain on his hands and knees for two hours while the troops played chess on his back. He also said he was forced to fill sewage with a spoon from one barrel into another one. An independent confirmation of his claims was not available.

Earlier this month, the US organization Human Rights Watch had accused US military forces in Afghanistan of torture against civilians and prisoners.

Detainees had been held tied up for weeks and were forced to remain without movement in painful positions for hours, the organization said.