A US general has been suspended from duty in Iraq following allegations of the maltreatment of Iraqi prisoners of war in her care.
Brigadier General Janice Karpinski , the commander of the 800th Brigade, was suspended following claims that prisoners in one of the prisons she ran were mistreated.
Photographs of Iraqi prisoners, naked except for hoods covering their heads, stacked in a human pyramid, were shown on prime time US TV last night. One had a slur written in English on his skin.
Scenes of prisoner humiliation at the hands of US military police appeared in photographs shown on the CBS programme Sixty Minutes.
The images have led to criminal charges against six American soldiers. CBS says they were taken late last year at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, where American soldiers were holding hundreds of prisoners captured during the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
In March, the US army announced that six members of the 800th Military Police Brigade faced court martial for allegedly abusing about 20 prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The charges included dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, assault and indecent acts with another person.
The military has also recommended disciplinary action against seven US officers who helped run the prison, including Brigadier General Janice Karpinski , the commander of the 800th Brigade.
The investigation recommended administrative action against several of the commanders, which could include punishments up to relieving them of their commands, said an official.
When the abuse charges were first announced, US military officials declined to provide details about the evidence. But yesterday, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said the investigation began in January when an American soldier reported the abuse and turned over evidence that included photographs.
"That soldier said, `There are some things going on here that I can't live with,"' said Kimmitt.
One picture shows an Iraqi prisoner who was told to stand on a box with his head covered and wires attached to his hands. CBS said the prisoner was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted.
In an interview with CBS correspondent Dan Rather, Kimmitt said the photographs were dismaying.
CBS identified one of the implicated soldiers as Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Chip Frederick, who described what he saw in the Iraqi prison.
"We had no support, no training whatsoever, and I kept asking my chain of command for certain things, rules and regulations, and it just wasn't happening," Frederick said.
Amnesty International said last month that many former detainees in Iraq claimed to have been tortured and ill-treated by coalition troops during interrogation.
Methods often reported, it said, included prolonged sleep deprivation, beatings, exposure to loud music and prolonged periods of being covered by a hood.
PA