Army Closed Many Abuse Cases Early

Another of the cases described in the documents involved an unnamed service member's allegations in late 2003 of "war crimes" at a Baghdad holding facility known as Camp Red. The member complained that Iraqis were made to sit for hours or stand on a brick in the hot sun, hooded and with their hands bound; that they were frequently pushed and kicked; and that soldiers would deliberately drive an armored vehicle next to where they were seated to "spook" them.

An officer at the camp told investigators that such treatment was needed to keep Iraqis from "acting up." The case was closed because "serious injury" was not proved, according to the document.

Another case involved a 73-year-old Iraqi woman who was captured by members of the Delta Force special unit and alleged that she was robbed of money and jewels before being confined for days without food or water -- all in an effort to force her to disclose the location of her husband and son. Delta Force's Task Force 20 was assigned to capture senior Iraqi officials.

She said she was also stripped and humiliated by a man who "straddled her . . . and attempted to ride her like a horse" before hitting her with a stick and placing it in her anus. The case, which attracted the attention of senior Iraqi officials and led to an inquiry by an unnamed member of the White House staff, was closed without a conclusion.

The military eventually released her and reimbursed her "for all property and damage" after her complaints, the report said; details of the Delta Force investigation remain classified.

In several cases, Army investigators concluded that the allegations were without merit. An inquiry begun after a Washington Post article detailed the shooting death of a Baghdad man by U.S. forces last summer ruled that the shooting was a "justifiable homicide."

Sajid Kadhim Bori Bawi's family had said that U.S. soldiers stormed into their home, accused him of crimes against coalition forces and dragged him into a room away from other family members. He was shot five times after yelling out.

Army investigators ruled that a soldier shot Bawi while "engaged in a struggle" with him, during which Bawi allegedly tried to grab a soldier's M-4 carbine rifle. They ruled that a soldier fired his pistol repeatedly at him "to nullify the threat to himself and the other soldiers." Military lawyers ruled it a "good shoot."

More often, Army investigators closed their cases after finding insufficient "evidence to prove or disprove the allegations." That was their conclusion after a detainee in Mosul reported that a Navy SEAL team beat him for two to three days and threatened his family after taking him into custody in May. "They took me back to a small room and they left me for two days without food and drinks and the bag was over my head and my hands were cuffed and then they threw cold water and ice and they banging me on the wall once," the detainee, whose name was blacked out on the reports, told an interpreter during the investigation.

An Air Force captain who examined the detainee after the alleged abuse reported the man had bruises on his shoulders. A military lawyer issued an opinion on July 6 that the evidence was inconclusive, ending the investigation of aggravated assault and cruelty and maltreatment.

Another detainee said he was whisked off a Baghdad street by two U.S. soldiers, blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, where he was beaten by wooden sticks, sodomized and given electric shocks during an interrogation session. He was also one of three detainees who said in separate cases that he was forced to drink urine.

"They made me take a picture with the captain giving me a hundred-dollar bill," the detainee said. "They then threatened to show the picture to the Iraqis and say I was working with them."

Medical examinations corroborated the injuries to the detainee's wrists and noted injuries to his anus. Military lawyers ruled that the "investigation did not further diminish the integrity or credibility of [the] allegation," according to a report dated Aug. 5, but they closed the case.

Staff writer Dana Priest contributed to this report.