US war scandals lead to few convictions

Abuses involving United States soldiers in Iraq are increasingly the subject of detailed investigations, but have resulted in few convictions.

When photographs of US soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison outside of Baghdad were published in April 2004, the world gasped in horror. But after several investigations and years of hearings and military trials, only 11 soldiers - those that appear in the photographs of the incident - have been found guilty. Their sentences range from a few hours of community service to up to 10 years in prison.

The world again recoiled in horror when video footage taken just after the slaughter of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha was broadcast. Among other things it showed children who had been killed with shots to the head. Of the four Marines charged with murder in December, two have since had charges withdrawn, while allegations against a third are also expected to be dismissed.

Two soldiers who admitted killing prisoners in cold blood during a raid on an island on the Tigris River were sentenced to 18 years prison. They insisted they were following orders from their sergeant, who was found guilty of a lesser charge and sentenced to 10 years prison.

Human Rights First spokeswoman Hina Shamsi says more accountability is needed. "None of the cases brought to date has given the systemic accounting the nation needs of what happened, why and how far up the chain of command responsibility lies," she said. "[It] leaves more questions unanswered than answered about not just what was going on at Abu Ghraib, but the larger issues on interrogation policies and practices, what was authorised, by whom, and how far on the chain of command it went," she said.

[Excerpt of an AFP article]