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| Abu Ghraib US colonel reprimanded | ||
| 2005-05-12 | ||
A top US commander at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq - where detainees were abused by American guards - has been reprimanded and fined $8,000 (£4,274). The US army found Col Thomas Pappas guilty of two counts of dereliction of duty, including that of allowing dogs to be present during interrogations. Col Pappas was in charge of military intelligence personnel at the prison near the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Last week, former commander of the jail Brig Gen Janis Karpinski was demoted. Nine junior US soldiers have been charged in connection with the abuse at the prison in late 2003, and seven of them have already been convicted. The verdict came at the end of a hearing in Kaiserslautern, Germany, in which Col Pappas presented evidence in his defence. Maj Gen Bennie Williams found the colonel guilty of two counts of dereliction of duty in late 2003 and early 2004. The first count said that Col Pappas "failed to ensure that subordinates were adequately informed of, trained upon and supervised in the application of interrogation procedures". The second referred to his failure in obtaining "the approval of superior commanders before authorising a non-sanctioned interrogation technique, specifically, the presence of military working dogs during the questioning". But Col Pappas was not found to have ordered the abuse of prisoners. No decision has yet been made whether to relieve Col Pappas of command of the Germany-based 205th Military Intelligence Brigade.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Doesn't say if this was a courts martial, but the entry "Maj Gen Bennie Williams found the colonel guilty of two counts of dereliction of duty in late 2003 and early 2004" seems to imply this was an General Officer Article 15 adminstration punishment. 'Dereliction of duty' is a broad encompassing charge which implies in this case, failure to properly supervise and inspect his operations as would be expected of someone of his position and authority rather than being an actual planner and participant to the violations which occured on site at Abu Ghraib. You take the pay and authority, you take the consequences. No promotion and no future, he might as well put his papers in now. If he is a reservist, he can wait till around 55 for his first check to show up, after the appropriate deductions. Wonder how many politicians and their appointees get off in similar circumstances when local police/guards hammer some prisoners in the local lockup? |
| Posted by: Spoluper Hupenter1939 2005-05-12 17:05 |