The US military has reprimanded six senior commissioned and non-commissioned officers in connection with the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.
The announcement followed an administrative investigation ordered by Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of US forces in Iraq, into abuse of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib.
Six other soldiers are already being criminally investigated for their involvement in the alleged abuse at a prison notorious in the Saddam Hussein era for its torture chambers where thousands of people are believed to have died.
The reprimands - the most serious written punishment the US army hands down - are private and no details would be released on the names or ranks of those punished, a US official said. A seventh person received a lesser letter of admonishment in connection with the same incident.
Last week, the US network CBS released pictures of US soldiers abusing and humiliating prisoners inside Abu Ghraib, including piling them up naked and hooded. In one case a prisoner standing on a box had wires attached to his hands and feet and was told he would be electrocuted if he stepped off it.
Lt Gen Sanchez ordered an investigation into possible abuse in January and in March the US military brought charges of assault, cruelty and maltreatment against six soldiers, members of a military police battalion.
The alleged abuses were said to have involved around 20 prisoners and took place in November and December last year.
Britain is investigating separate allegations of abuse by British troops in southern Iraq.