IN THE NEWS - Investigative Reports on Iraq's Abu Ghraib Pri

IN THE NEWS - Investigative Reports on Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Saturday, August 28, 2004

This is Steve Ember with In the News in VOA Special English.

This week, there were two reports on the treatment of Iraqis by American troops at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Both reports said responsibility for the abuses that took place was not limited to low-level guards. But neither investigation¹ found any orders to mistreat prisoners.

Army investigators² found that twenty-three members of military intelligence and four civilian³ workers were directly involved in abuse. These findings could result in administrative⁴ or criminal charges. Eight other people, including two civilians⁵, were found not to have reported cases of abuse.

The Army report places blame mainly on a lack of training among the troops and a lack of leadership by their commanders. It says rules for questioning prisoners were sometimes unclear.

In April, pictures from Abu Ghraib were made public. Some showed prisoners forced into painful positions. Others showed men unclothed and placed on top of one another. Still others showed the use of dogs to threaten prisoners.

 
Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad
The Army investigators found that troops hid eight Iraqi prisoners from the International Committee of the Red Cross. One prisoner later died.

General Paul Kern led the investigation by three Army generals. They discovered what he called "serious misconduct and a loss of moral values."

Criminal cases are being heard against six military police officers in Iraq. Their lawyers have argued that the soldiers were following orders from military intelligence officers and civilian contractors⁶. One soldier has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison.

Lieutenant⁷ General Ricardo Sanchez was the top American commander in Iraq at the time. He was criticized for leadership failures, but not found directly responsible for the abuses. Four high-level military officers, however, face possible administrative charges.

On Friday the New York Times described some parts of the Army report that were not made public. These reportedly say that General Sanchez approved the use of some severe methods to get information from prisoners in Iraq. The newspaper says these interrogation methods were meant to be limited to prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Afghanistan.

The other report this week came from an independent committee led by former Defense⁸ Secretary James Schlesinger. The committee examined the policies for people captured in Iraq and Afghanistan. It says there was no evidence of any policy to abuse prisoners. Still, it says top civilian and military officials in the Defense Department share part of the blame for what happened.

The report says it is clear that pressures for additional intelligence resulted in stronger interrogation methods. But it says there are signs that the Department of Defense is now "on the path" to dealing⁹ with the failures that led to the abuses.

In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Steve Ember.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。