Army Warns Iraqi Forces On Abuse Of Detainees

Senior members of the new Iraqi government have assured U.S. commanders in private conversations that they are aware of the problem and committed to addressing it, according to several U.S. officers. But spokesmen for the Defense and Interior ministries and the prime minister's office said this week that they were unaware of specific U.S. military reports alleging abuse of detainees by Iraqi forces.

The issue has gained urgency in recent months as Iraqi security forces have expanded and begun conducting counterinsurgency operations on their own. Prisoners taken in operations led by U.S. forces are still sent to U.S.-run detention facilities. But insurgents captured in Iraqi-led raids now often end up being detained by the Iraqis and at times subjected to harsh interrogations.

Iraqi forces receive some instruction about human rights and the laws of armed conflict during U.S.-designed basic training programs, and U.S. soldiers are giving additional guidance to those responsible for running prisons. But the advice has tended to be general, lacking many of the specifics in the U.S. Army's recently revised field manual for handling detainees.

"We've given them recommended guidance," said Capt. Jacob Lilly, the 3rd Infantry's chief counsel for detainee operations. "But we haven't gotten that detailed."

Under the order issued by Vines, reports of alleged Iraqi abuses documented by U.S. forces are to be reviewed by division commanders, then passed up to Vines and Casey and forwarded to Iraqi provincial or national authorities.

Sometimes senior U.S. commanders become personally involved. This month, for instance, Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who is leading the effort to develop Iraq's security forces, delivered what witnesses described as a stern warning to senior members of the Major Crimes Unit, the country's equivalent of the FBI.

The warning followed an incident at the Rusafa police station in Baghdad during a visit by U.S. forces and an international police liaison team. Hearing screams in a second-floor room, the group investigated and found an Iraqi brigadier general and two police commissioners with a detainee who was "crying and hopping from foot to foot," according to a U.S. report. The detainee had been "questioned on theft of money" from Iraq's banking system, the report said.

The Iraqi general acknowledged that the detainee had been hit a few times "to get more information," the report said. Searching the room, the U.S. visitors identified "two plastic hoses, a large rolling pin with a rope through it and a hand-cranked generator with wire clamps," the report said.

The group went to see an Iraqi two-star general at the station about the matter, but the general offered "no response," the report said. Returning to the interrogation room, members of the group saw the detainee being questioned again and observed that "he had changed his story about what had happened to him." They then removed the man from the station "for his own safety," the report said.

Petraeus, according to participants in the meeting, told the members of the Major Crimes Unit that such mistreatment would jeopardize their operation by undermining public and international regard for their activities. "You can't allow the new Iraq to treat people the way Saddam did," he reportedly said.

The head of the Major Crimes Unit has told U.S. officers that the incident is under investigation and that the findings will be reported to the interior minister.

In classes and conversations on the handling of detainees, Iraqi soldiers often challenge the idea that international human rights conventions should apply to insurgents, several officers said.

"One of the most frequent questions we're asked is, 'Why do we have to treat these people humanely, because their only aim is to kill us?' " said Col. William Hudson, senior lawyer for the 3rd Infantry Division.

Lilly concurred. "The number one question we get from Iraqi interrogators is, 'How am I going to break these guys if I can't use physical force?' " he said.

Special correspondent Naseer Nouri contributed to this report.