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American hatred of Muslims exposed by hundreds of criminal cases
Extent of US abuse cases revealed
The US army says it is conducting more than 100 criminal investigations into claims of detainee abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Maj Gen Donald Ryder, in charge of US army detainee operations, said a further 200 such investigations had already been completed.
The military has been forced to reassess how it treats detainees after last year's Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Gen Ryder said the army had tightened its rules as a result.
The US army says it has opened 308 criminal investigations into allegations of abuse, more than 100 of which are still open.
Gen Ryder could not say how many soldiers had actually been prosecuted for abusing detainees.
His comments came after two British soldiers were found guilty at a court martial of charges relating to abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Daniel Kenyon, 33, was convicted of three charges and Mark Cooley, 25, of two following abuse at Camp Bread Basket, Basra, during May 2003.
Both the soldiers, and a third - Darren Larkin - who had admitted assault, will be sentenced by a UK military panel in Osnabrueck, Germany, on Friday.
New procedures
The US army confirmed on Wednesday that it was investing an alleged sexual assault on an elderly woman who was detained by coalition troops in Iraq.
The US army insists it has reformed the way it detains, guards and interrogates people in areas where it is operating.
Gen Ryder said new training and procedures were in place.
For example, he said, dogs would no longer be used to intimidate suspects, and interrogators now have only limited power to decide the conditions in which detainees are held.
But BBC Pentagon correspondent Adam Brookes says the Abu Ghraib scandal did lasting damage to the US military's reputation, and the fact that 100 criminal investigations are still under way suggests more damage is to come.
SOURCE
BBC News, "Extent of US abuse cases revealed", 24 February 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4293023.stm
"The Insider" mailing list article, 25 February 2005.
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