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US probes Iraq abuse pictures
The pictures were handed over to officials by an Associated Press news agency reporter who found them on a commercial photo-sharing website.
The photographs, posted by a woman who said her husband brought them home from Iraq, appear to show the aftermath of raids on civilian homes, the Associated Press reported.
The photographs, posted by a woman who said her husband brought them home from Iraq, appear to show the aftermath of raids on civilian homes, the Associated Press reported.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4067775.stm
Photos that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees are seen on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into the photographs. Date stamps on some photos suggest they were made in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. (AP Photo)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/ts/042904iraqprison&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=3&a=0&printer=
An Associated Press reporter found more than 40 of the pictures among hundreds in an album posted on a commercial photo-sharing website by a woman who said her husband brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty. It is unclear who took the pictures, which the Navy said it was investigating after the news agency handed over copies.
These and other photos found by AP appear to show the immediate aftermath of raids on civilian homes. One man is lying on his back with a boot on his chest. A “mug shot” shows a man with an automatic weapon pointed at his head and a gloved thumb jabbed into his throat. In many photos, faces have been blacked out.
“These photographs raise a number of important questions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war and detainees,” Navy Cmdr Jeff Bender, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, California, said in a written response to questions.
“I can assure you that the matter will be thoroughly investigated.”
The photos were turned over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which instructed the SEAL command to determine whether they showed any serious crimes, Bender said last night.
That investigation will determine the identities of the troops and what they were doing in the photos.
Some of the photos recall aspects of the images from Abu Ghraib, which led to charges against seven soldiers accused of humiliating and assaulting prisoners. In several of the photos obtained by AP, grinning men wearing US flags on their uniforms, and one with a tattoo of a SEAL trident, take turns sitting or lying atop what appear to be three hooded and handcuffed men in the bed of a pick-up truck.
A reporter found the photos, which since have since been removed from public view, while researching the prosecution of a group of SEALs who allegedly beat prisoners and photographed one of them in degrading positions. Those photos, taken with a SEAL’s personal camera, have not been publicly released.
Though they have alarmed SEAL commanders, the photographs found by AP do not necessarily show anything illegal, according to experts in the laws of war who reviewed them at AP’s request.
Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches at the United States Military Academy, said the images showed “stupid” and “juvenile” behaviour – but not necessarily a crime.
John Hutson, a retired rear admiral who served as the Navy’s judge advocate general from 1997 to 2000, said they suggested possible Geneva Convention violations. Those international laws prohibit souvenir photos of prisoners of war.
“It’s pretty obvious that these pictures were taken largely as war trophies,” Hutson said. “Once you start allowing that kind of behaviour, the next step is to start posing the POWs in order to get even better pictures.”
At a minimum, the pictures breach Navy regulations that forbid photographing prisoners other than for intelligence or administrative purposes, according to Bender, the SEALs spokesman.
All Naval Special Warfare personnel were told that prior to deployment, he said, but “it is obvious from some of the photographs that this policy was not adhered to”.
The images were posted to the Internet site Smugmug.com. The woman who posted them told AP they were on the camera her husband brought back from Iraq. She said her husband, who does not appear in photos with prisoners, had returned to Iraq.
The US Navy goes to great lengths to protect the identities and whereabouts of its 2,400 SEALs – which stands for Navy Sea, Air, Land – many of whom have classified counter-terrorist missions around the globe.
“Some of these photos clearly depict faces and names of Naval Special Warfare personnel, which could put them or their families at risk,” Bender said.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3840878
Photos that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees are seen on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into the photographs. Date stamps on some photos suggest they were made in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. (AP Photo)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/ts/042904iraqprison&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=3&a=0&printer=
An Associated Press reporter found more than 40 of the pictures among hundreds in an album posted on a commercial photo-sharing website by a woman who said her husband brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty. It is unclear who took the pictures, which the Navy said it was investigating after the news agency handed over copies.
These and other photos found by AP appear to show the immediate aftermath of raids on civilian homes. One man is lying on his back with a boot on his chest. A “mug shot” shows a man with an automatic weapon pointed at his head and a gloved thumb jabbed into his throat. In many photos, faces have been blacked out.
“These photographs raise a number of important questions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war and detainees,” Navy Cmdr Jeff Bender, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, California, said in a written response to questions.
“I can assure you that the matter will be thoroughly investigated.”
The photos were turned over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which instructed the SEAL command to determine whether they showed any serious crimes, Bender said last night.
That investigation will determine the identities of the troops and what they were doing in the photos.
Some of the photos recall aspects of the images from Abu Ghraib, which led to charges against seven soldiers accused of humiliating and assaulting prisoners. In several of the photos obtained by AP, grinning men wearing US flags on their uniforms, and one with a tattoo of a SEAL trident, take turns sitting or lying atop what appear to be three hooded and handcuffed men in the bed of a pick-up truck.
A reporter found the photos, which since have since been removed from public view, while researching the prosecution of a group of SEALs who allegedly beat prisoners and photographed one of them in degrading positions. Those photos, taken with a SEAL’s personal camera, have not been publicly released.
Though they have alarmed SEAL commanders, the photographs found by AP do not necessarily show anything illegal, according to experts in the laws of war who reviewed them at AP’s request.
Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches at the United States Military Academy, said the images showed “stupid” and “juvenile” behaviour – but not necessarily a crime.
John Hutson, a retired rear admiral who served as the Navy’s judge advocate general from 1997 to 2000, said they suggested possible Geneva Convention violations. Those international laws prohibit souvenir photos of prisoners of war.
“It’s pretty obvious that these pictures were taken largely as war trophies,” Hutson said. “Once you start allowing that kind of behaviour, the next step is to start posing the POWs in order to get even better pictures.”
At a minimum, the pictures breach Navy regulations that forbid photographing prisoners other than for intelligence or administrative purposes, according to Bender, the SEALs spokesman.
All Naval Special Warfare personnel were told that prior to deployment, he said, but “it is obvious from some of the photographs that this policy was not adhered to”.
The images were posted to the Internet site Smugmug.com. The woman who posted them told AP they were on the camera her husband brought back from Iraq. She said her husband, who does not appear in photos with prisoners, had returned to Iraq.
The US Navy goes to great lengths to protect the identities and whereabouts of its 2,400 SEALs – which stands for Navy Sea, Air, Land – many of whom have classified counter-terrorist missions around the globe.
“Some of these photos clearly depict faces and names of Naval Special Warfare personnel, which could put them or their families at risk,” Bender said.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3840878
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Motivated Warriors
Wed, Mar 23, 2005 11:23AM
unjust violence-- bushite style
Sat, Dec 4, 2004 5:59PM
more
Sat, Dec 4, 2004 12:56AM
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