US hid Iraq prisoners in violation of Geneva Convention

1.00pm - By VICKI ALLEN

WASHINGTON - The United States may have kept up to 100 "ghost detainees" in Iraq off the books and concealed from Red Cross observers, a far higher number than previously reported, an Army general told Congress today.

Estimates were rough because the CIA has withheld documents on concealed detainees, Army generals who investigated US abuses of Iraqi prisoners told lawmakers. Republican and Democratic senators blasted the CIA, and called for it to turn over the material.

At a Senate committee hearing, Gen Paul Kern, commander of the US Army Materiel Command, said he believed the number of ghost detainees held in violation of Geneva Convention protections was "in the dozens to perhaps up to 100," far surpassing the eight people identified in an Army report.

Maj Gen George Fay, deputy commander at the US Army Intelligence and Security Command, said he expected it may be two dozen or more. "We were not able to get documentation from the Central Intelligence Agency to answer those types of questions. So we really don't know the volume," he said.

The Geneva Conventions require countries to disclose information on prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which monitors their treatment.

The Senate and House of Representatives Armed Services Committees held hearings on an Army probe of the role of military intelligence in abuses at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, as well as broader findings on US mistreatment of prisoners by an independent panel headed by former Defence Secretary James Schlesinger.

The reports depicted more widespread abuses than the acts of a handful of soldiers accused when the images of horrific sexual and physical humiliation and torture at the Abu Ghraib prison first came to light last spring.

While the panel led by Schlesinger blamed top Pentagon civilian and military leaders for contributing to a climate that led to the sadistic treatment of detainees, Schlesinger said US forces in Iraq had behaved far better overall than in previous wars, including World War 2, Korea and Vietnam.

He said the 66 cases of confirmed abuse, although higher than the Bush administration first disclosed, "is a small number -- comparing quite well ... with previous wars."

Senators called the CIA's failure so far to turn over information sought by Army investigators unacceptable.

"The situation with the CIA and ghost soldiers is beginning to look like a bad movie," said Sen John McCain, an Arizona Republican.

"I think that this is something that needs to be asked ... of the incoming director of the CIA," McCain said, referring to Rep Porter Goss, a Florida Republican tapped by President George W Bush to run the CIA.

The Senate Intelligence Committee scheduled a confirmation hearing for Goss on September 14.

Warner said the Intelligence Committee also was pressing the CIA for information, and said the Armed Services Committee would more closely examine the ghost detainees issue.

CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said the agency's inspector general was conducting "a comprehensive review of the agency's involvement in detention and interrogation activities," and the agency was "determined to examine thoroughly any allegations of abuse."

The findings of the Army investigation, headed by Fay and Lt Gen Anthony Jones and released in August, listed 44 instances of prisoner abuse, 13 directly involving interrogations.

It said 27 military intelligence personnel -- 23 soldiers and four contractors -- directly took part in abuse or induced others to do so, while another eight -- six soldiers and two contractors -- failed to report abuse they had witnessed. All have been recommended for possible criminal charges.

Lawmakers said those higher up the chain of command also must be held accountable for failing in key duties.

Sen Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, worried that the "only people that are court-martialled here are privates and sergeants ... Dereliction of duty will be redefined one way or the other after this investigation."

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq