Report: 108 Died In U.S. Custody
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2005
©MMV, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2005
(AP) At least 108 people have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, most of them violently, according to government data provided to The Associated Press. Roughly a quarter of those deaths have been investigated as possible abuse by U.S. personnel.
The figure, far higher than any previously disclosed, includes cases investigated by the Army, Navy, CIA and Justice Department. Some 65,000 prisoners have been taken during the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although most have been freed.
The Pentagon has never provided comprehensive information on how many prisoners taken during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have died, and the 108 figure is based on information supplied by Army, Navy and other government officials. It includes deaths attributed to natural causes.
To human rights groups, the deaths form a clear pattern.
"Despite the military's own reports of deaths and abuses of detainees in U.S. custody, it is astonishing that our government can still pretend that what is happening is the work of a few rogue soldiers," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "No one at the highest levels of our government has yet been held accountable for the torture and abuse, and that is unacceptable."
To the Pentagon, each death is a distinct case, meriting an investigation but not attributable to any single faulty military policy. Pentagon officials point to a number of military investigations which found that no policy condoned abuse.
Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner said the military has taken steps to reduce the chance of violent uprisings at its prisons and the use of excessive force by soldiers, and also has improved the health care available to prisoners.
"The military has dramatically improved detention operations, everything from increased oversight and improved facilities to expanded training and the availability of state-of-the-art medical care," he said in a statement.
The figure, far higher than any previously disclosed, includes cases investigated by the Army, Navy, CIA and Justice Department. Some 65,000 prisoners have been taken during the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although most have been freed.
The Pentagon has never provided comprehensive information on how many prisoners taken during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have died, and the 108 figure is based on information supplied by Army, Navy and other government officials. It includes deaths attributed to natural causes.
To human rights groups, the deaths form a clear pattern.
"Despite the military's own reports of deaths and abuses of detainees in U.S. custody, it is astonishing that our government can still pretend that what is happening is the work of a few rogue soldiers," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "No one at the highest levels of our government has yet been held accountable for the torture and abuse, and that is unacceptable."
To the Pentagon, each death is a distinct case, meriting an investigation but not attributable to any single faulty military policy. Pentagon officials point to a number of military investigations which found that no policy condoned abuse.
Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner said the military has taken steps to reduce the chance of violent uprisings at its prisons and the use of excessive force by soldiers, and also has improved the health care available to prisoners.
"The military has dramatically improved detention operations, everything from increased oversight and improved facilities to expanded training and the availability of state-of-the-art medical care," he said in a statement.
©MMV, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
If people only knew the facts, they would not be fighting for the 'RIGHT' to be screwed over.
+ $1,751,132,130,359 Social Security Trust Fund
– $7,805,708,317,936 The Gross National Debt
Time will tell all the Truth.
VT
+ $1,751,132,130,359 Social Security Trust Fund
– $7,805,708,317,936 The Gross National Debt
Time will tell all the Truth.
VT
2 comments:
Liberals want to end the war on terror because 108, which apparently includes natural causes, out of 65,000 prisoners have been killed? I'm sorry, but that ratio isn't bad. Yes, mistreating and killing prisoners by Americans is bad, but to pretend that this is "widespread and a normal occurrence" for prisoners held by Americans is no better. How many have died at the hands of our enemies as a result of such rubbish? 108 out of 65,000 doesn't even begin to compare to the Nazi concentration camps, Cambodian killing fields or Soviet Gulags, does it?
To claim that there is no torture occuring, that the detainees never had it so good is just another lie by the administration. No one dies from 'good' treatment. May be a few did die of natural causes, but our laws prevent the US from torturing detainees. It definitely does not allow them to be tortured to DEATH!
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