Soldier accused of being one of Abu Ghraib's 'corrupt cops'

FORT MEADE, Maryland - A military prosecutor today accused Army dog handler Sgt. Santos Cardona of being part of a group of "corrupt cops" who tormented Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison for their own amusement.

Cardona allowed his Belgian shepherd, Duco, to bite an inmate and joined another military police dog handler in a competition to see who could make the most prisoners urinate or defecate on themselves, Major Matthew Miller said in the prosecution's opening statement of Cardona's court-martial.

Cardona and his associate also tried to get shackled Iraqi detainees to do the "doggie dance" - flailing and screaming as they let their snarling, unmuzzled dogs lunge at the prisoners, Miller said.

Treatment of inmates in US military prisons abroad has been an embarrassing issue for the United States since 2004, when photographs were leaked showing Abu Ghraib prisoners being abused and sexually humiliated by American military personnel.

Ten US soldiers have been convicted of abuse of Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib. At Cardona's court-martial, testimony was expected for the first time from Major General Geoffrey Miller, who helped shape policies at the prison outside Baghdad.

Cardona, 32, faces 16-1/2 years in prison if convicted on all charges of maltreatment of prisoners, assault and dereliction of duty.

The charges are being heard by a court-martial panel of four officers and three enlisted personnel, one of whom told the presiding officer she had a fear of dog attacks.

Miller said Cardona joined Specialist Charles Graner and Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick on the 4am-to-4pm guard shift and imposed "jailhouse justice" in a section of Abu Ghraib known as the "hard site," where high-value prisoners were kept.

"They would shackle detainees ... and allow a dog to snarl and bark within inches of their face," he said. "It was done for nothing more than the entertainment of corrupt cops serving on the night shift.

"This is a case about cops who were trained better, who knew better, but abused detainees at Abu Ghraib."

Graner, Frederick and several other Abu Ghraib guards were convicted of prisoner abuse after the release of photographs showing the Iraqis in humiliating poses.

Cardona's civilian attorney, Harvey Volzer, opened his defence by holding up a coin and telling the military jury: "A trial is like a coin -- two sides. We're going to show you the other side." The defence has said it will try to direct blame at Cardona's superiors.

"He obeyed the law, he obeyed his superior NCOs (non-comissioned officers) and he obeyed his superior officers," Volzer said,

The attorney also said Cardona was a victim of ambigous orders and conflicting jurisdictions.

"You have an untrained detention force," he said. "You have multiple military intelligence components and civilian intelligence components. You have conflicting rules."

The Abu Ghraib scandal was a major embarrassment for the US war effort in Iraq and led to worldwide scrutiny of how the United States treats military prisoners around the world.

Last week, the UN Committee Against Torture called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison where captives from Iraq and Afghanistan are held. It also cited the use of dogs to scare detainees in calling for an end interrogation methods that could be considered torture or cruel treatment.

- REUTERS