US 'abuse' soldiers face court martials
US Defence Sectretary Donald Rumsfeld's surprise visit to Baghdad comes a day after the military announced it will court-martial two more American soldiers.
One case involves a man accused of taking part in standing a wired-up prisoner on a box and threatening him with electrocution - a scene displayed in one of the photos surrounding the abuse scandal.
A third soldier was already scheduled for court-martial.
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the chief US military spokesman in Iraq, announced yesterday that Staff Sgt Ivan “Chip” Frederick II, and Sgt Javal Davis, would face a general court-martial. He said no trial date and venue had been set.
At a Senate hearing yesterday in Washington, Rumsfeld said Defence Department lawyers had approved methods such as sleep deprivation and dietary changes as well as rules permitting prisoners to be made to assume stressful positions.
Myers told senators the military has taken steps to correct the problems that led to abuses, including replacing the military police unit that took some of the photos.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has been holding hearings to determine whether prisoner abuses were limited to the Abu Ghraib facility.
The committee also wants to see whether responsibility went beyond a small group of enlisted soldiers and their immediate supervisors, who the Army says provided inadequate training and supervision.
Among the uncertainties is whether military intelligence officials directly or indirectly encouraged the abuse in order to “soften up” detainees for interrogations.
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