Abuse probe unfinished, records say

At least 251 military members have been punished, an Army spokesman said.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army closed a criminal investigation of abuse allegations by an Iraqi detainee last year, finding no reason to believe his contentions, even though no Americans involved in the case were questioned, according to Pentagon records made public Thursday.
Internal Army documents about the Iraqi's capture Jan. 4, 2004, and his subsequent interrogation at an unspecified facility at or near Baghdad International Airport were not reviewed, the records show, because investigators were told they had been lost in a computer malfunction.
The Iraqi, whose full name was blacked out in the documents by U.S. censors, is described as a relative of a former bodyguard for Saddam Hussein.
Abuses alleged
The detainee alleged that he was kicked in the stomach once and punched in the spine once by his interrogators. He said he was placed in front of a window air conditioner after being stripped naked and having a bag placed over his head. Cold water was poured over the bag every few minutes, he said, and he was dragged around a room by his arm.
The investigation records were among thousands of pages of records released by the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained them from the Defense Department as part of a Freedom of Information request.
Army spokesman Paul Boyce said more than 500 investigations have been conducted on allegations of detainee abuse and that so far, at least 251 military members have been court-martialed or given other forms of punishment.
"This effort by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command demonstrates the Army's continuing and tireless commitment to investigate any allegation of detainee abuse by any unit or soldier, and to locate possible witnesses to allegations of detainee abuse," he said.
Blocked probe
The documents include numerous references to investigators' being blocked from a thorough investigation, yet the matter was closed a final time on June 17, 2005, by the Army Criminal Investigation Command.
An April 8, 2005, report, for example, said an Army investigation unit had been unable to fully investigate 23 criminal cases "due to the suspects and witnesses involvement in Special Access Programs and/or the security classification of the unit they were assigned to during the offense." Special Access Programs are highly classified activities such as Task Force 6-26, which was hunting high-value targets such as insurgent leaders.
A Feb. 26, 2005, report said that even though the Iraqi who made the abuse allegations had given a detailed description of the interpreter who was present, as well as others, "no effort was made to identify and interview the interrogators and screening personnel who were working" at the screening facility.
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