From Deseret News archives:

Disgust at prison abuses grows

1,000 new photos of Iraqis shock and anger lawmakers

Published: Thursday, May 13, 2004 7:30 a.m. MDT
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"Many of them, you couldn't figure it out," he said. "One showed a victim of a gunshot wound with half of his head blown off, with all the blood and gore around it, and no identification as to who he was or where it took place ... Many others, you couldn't tell where they took place. The military officials there couldn't explain it. They didn't know."

Congress had been negotiating with the Pentagon to see the additional images since Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed last week that there were many more pictures and some video and that they were worse than those already obtained and published by news organizations. The latest soldiers to face courts-martial in Baghdad in the coming weeks are Sgt. Javal S. Davis, 26, of Maryland, and Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II, 37, of Buckingham, Va. Their trials will follow the court-martial of Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, 24, of Hyndman, Pa.

The trials of the three reservists will be open, according to officials. Sivits faces a special court martial, while Davis and Frederick will be tried in general courts martial, which could result in stiffer sentences than the Sivits proceeding.

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The formal language of charge sheets released by the military accused Davis of maltreatment of detainees, dereliction of duty for failing to protect detainees from abuse, conspiracy to maltreat detainees, assault and rendering false official statements. Frederick is charged with maltreatment of detainees, conspiracy to maltreat detainees, dereliction of duty for negligibly failing to protect detainees from abuse and wrongfully committing an indecent act by watching detainees commit a sexual act.

Frederick and Davis are members of the 372nd Military Police Company. Frederick worked as a corrections officer at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va., before his deployment to Iraq in early 2003.

According to media reports, Frederick wrote his family that he was encouraged by military intelligence officers, and praised by them, for getting detainees ready for interrogation. Davis told investigators he was "made to do various things that I would question morally," according to a military report cited by the Associated Press. Davis also claimed intelligence officers seemed to approve of the abuse, saying, "We were told they had different rules," the wire service reported.

In the Senate on Wednesday, Rumsfeld appeared at a hearing on the Defense Department's budget request but ended up answering several questions on interrogation methods and related issues.

Rumsfeld said that interrogation instructions had been carefully reviewed and fully complied with the Geneva Conventions, the rules governing international actions in wartime. He also said the department had responded to criticism of its detentions.

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