DENVER, May 10 -- Army Pfc. Lynndie R. England was ordered by her superiors to pose with naked Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, her attorneys said Monday, so that the photos could be used to frighten and demoralize other prisoners.
"People told Pfc. England, 'Hold that leash,' told her to smile, so they can show the photos to subsequent prisoners," said Carl S. McGuire, one member of a team of Denver-area lawyers defending England.
Pfc. Lynndie R. England is charged with three counts of assault and could be sentenced to 151/2 years.
|
|
The 21-year-old Army reservist, who was photographed holding a leash tied to the neck of a naked prisoner, faces a court-martial on 13 counts of misconduct.
"They picked her to get the smallest, youngest, lowest-rank woman they could find, and that would increase the humiliation for an Iraqi man," said Rose Mary Zapor, another member of the Denver-based legal team.
In a news conference Monday night, England's attorneys also said that President Bush's public condemnation of the prison guards at Abu Ghraib makes it all but impossible for the accused soldiers to get a fair court-martial.
"The commander in chief is making statements that the client is already guilty and will be punished. We think that is basically unfair, when she is going to be tried by military officers," Zapor said. "We don't want to get involved in anything political, but as a legal matter, the commander in chief acted improperly. . . . We're going to ask the president to cease and desist his comments regarding the defendants."
The attorneys did not identify the superiors they say ordered England to pose for the photos that have stunned the world. But McGuire charged that civilians had "contaminated the chain of command" at Abu Ghraib. He said England had been given orders by "people from the OGAs -- that means, 'other government agencies,' and it's usually code for the CIA, the defense intelligence agencies and similar outfits."
Zapor described England, who grew up in the rural village of Fort Ashby, W.Va., as a "21-year-old girl who joined the Army Reserve right out of high school and worked as a clerk. She was never trained to be a prison guard or military police."
When England was mobilized and dispatched to Iraq last year, the lawyers said, she was given four weeks of generalized training, then ordered to work as a guard at Abu Ghraib.
"The section of Abu Ghraib to which [England was] assigned was controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency," Zapor said.
England came home from Iraq this spring and is now at Fort Bragg, N.C. The lawyers confirmed that England, who is unmarried, is five months pregnant. Zapor said her client has been "scapegoated and vilified" at Fort Bragg. "She has been asking for legal advice since January," the lawyer said. "She tried to obtain counsel around Fort Bragg. None of her calls were returned."
England's family then contacted Giorgio Ra'Shadd of Denver, and he put together the Colorado legal team now representing the soldier. Ra'Shadd went to Fort Bragg on Monday to meet his client and talk to prosecutors about the case. If convicted of the charges against her -- including three counts of assault, involving battery -- England could face 151/2 years in a military prison. Her attorneys said she is not guilty on all charges.
