Officials did not react to prisoner abuse warnings, says report
US officials failed to react to early indications of prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, according to a new report.
A Pentagon review found abuses of detainees might have been prevented if they had received enough high level attention.
It concluded while US policies did not lead to prisoner abuse, early warning signs were not properly adhered to and unit commanders were not given clear instructions.
The investigation, by Navy Vice Admiral Albert Church, found no “single, overarching reason” why prisoners under US control were abused at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It concludes no civilian or military leaders directed or encouraged abuse and found no link between approved interrogation techniques and detainee abuse.
But the review cites a number of missed opportunities and said it was clear warning signs were present.
In a 21-page summary, Church concludes such “communiques” should have prompted commanders to employ more specific procedures to prevent further abuse.
“Instead, these warning signs were not given sufficient attention at the unit level, nor were they relayed to the responsible commander in a timely way,” it reads.
Senior defence officials told the New York Times the most striking warning signs came from the International Committee of the Red Cross, particularly at a briefing to officials at Abu Ghraib in October 2003.
One said had military officials heeded the Red Cross’s warnings, “some of the abuses might not have happened”. The report notes the Pentagon could have stepped in if it had employed a more adequate oversight.
“We consider it a missed opportunity that no specific guidance on interrogation techniques was provided to the commanders responsible for Afghanistan and Iraq,” it concludes.
The report is the sixth major inquiry into the abuse and detention operations and was ordered by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld 10 months ago.
It examined 70 investigations of confirmed abuse out of 187 cases. In six of the 70 cases the prisoner died and only 20 were related to interrogations. It will be presented to Congress today.
