A US army general has admitted for the first time that US forces tortured Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib jail and indicated a colonel who headed the military intelligence unit there could face charges.
"It's a harsh word, and in some instances, unfortunately, I think it was appropriate here. There were a few instances where torture was being used," Army Major General George Fay told a Pentagon briefing yesterday.
Army Major General George Fay
He was commenting on his investigationm, with Lt. Gen. Anthony Jones, into the role of military intelligence personnel in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Pentagon leaders and Bush administration officials had previously steered clear of describing the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners as torture. Gen Fay did not specify the actions he considered torture.
The investigators referred Col. Thomas Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade at Abu Ghraib, to army authorities for possible disciplinary action, which could prompt criminal charges.
Four other Army officers, another 29 military intelligence soldiers, four military police soldiers and two medical personnel were also referred by investigators for possible charges. The names of six private contractors were also sent to the Justice Department for possible legal action.
To date, only seven military police reservists who served at Abu Ghraib have been charged.
The 143-page Fay-Jones report describes an incident in which US soldiers held a contest to scare teen-age detainees with guard dogs "in order to see who could make the detainees urinate and defecate first".
The report also found US forces improperly hid at least eight detainees from observers of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and investigators asked the Pentagon inspector general's office and the CIA to look further into the issue of so-called ghost detainees.
The report came a day after a high-level panel headed by former Defence Secretary James Schlesinger found that top civilian and military officials at the Pentagon bore indirect responsibility for the abuse.