Home>News Center>World
         
 

American troops release nearly 300 Iraqis
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-14 23:24

Nearly 300 Iraqi detainees, some weeping and waving to friends, were released from the Abu Ghraib prison on Friday, a day after US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made a surprise visit and insisted the Pentagon did not try to cover up abuses there.

One bus carrying 40 prisoners left the jail and drove to an American military base in west Baghdad, where tribal leaders awaited some of them. One by one, prisoners got out, kneeled, and prayed beside the bus. Others left on the same bus, bound for other Baghdad neighborhoods.

Hundreds of relatives of those detained had stood outside the prison since early morning, waiting for their release. U.S. Marines blocked off both lanes of a highway as the first bus left the prison compound. At least five other buses left the prison.

The U.S. military released 293 prisoners and planned to release another 475 prisoners on May 21, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. He said 22 prisoners who were originally scheduled for release Friday will be released May 21.

After spending over nine months in the prison, Hussein Sami did not complain of physical abuse. However, he said he and other prisoners were under psychological pressure, with guards repeatedly shouting and insulting inmates. The prison was also unsafe because Iraqi insurgents sometimes targeted it with mortar rounds.

Sami arrived at his house in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad, and family members slaughtered a sheep at the gates in celebration. He claimed he was never told why he was arrested. His father and brother were left behind at Abu Ghraib, Sami said.

Another former prisoner, Mohammed al-Musawi, complained that he was humiliated by guards at least once during his 11-month incarceration.

"They forced me to take all my clothes off, and female prison guards were whispering and laughing at me, " Musawi said while sitting in a room with tribal leaders. He was arrested in Baghdad's Hurriyah neighborhood, for allegedly participating in an attack against a U.S. tank.

Al-Musawi spoke of other detainees who left interrogation rooms with bruises, apparently from beatings.

"After taking some of the detainees into the interrogation rooms, they would come out with bruises and swellings in their bodies," he said.

Both men spoke inside the U.S. military's Camp Thunder in west Baghdad after a short bus journey from Abu Ghraib.

The coalition periodically releases prisoners from the notorious Saddam-era jail, where abuses of prisoners by American soldiers have erupted into a major scandal and damaged the credibility of the U.S.-led coalition governing Iraq.

Images of abuse were taken by American military guards at the prison near Baghdad. Courts-martial have been ordered for three military police guards.

Nahidah Abdulkarim, a housewife who said her three sons were detained by U.S. forces in January, stood in a dusty field and peered through the barbed wire fence at the prison.

"I am so eager to see them again so that I can kill all the bad and ugly thoughts that my sons had been abused inside the prison," she said. "Every time I see the pictures of the abused Iraqi prisoners, I die a hundred times."

Police Lt. Col. Omar Aljuburi said he came to check on the possible release of his two cousins, who were arrested in the northern town of Kirkuk for allegedly participating in the insurgency against U.S. troops. Aljuburi said the allegations were false.

During his visit Thursday, Rumsfeld encouraged prison commander Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller to thin out the prisoner population as quickly as possible. Miller said 300 to 400 detainees per week are either released outright or transferred to the Iraqi justice system.

Miller said he would cut the number of inmates at Abu Ghraib in half, to fewer than 2,000 from the current 3,800. He also said that some interrogation techniques, such as sleep deprivation or stressful positions, will require a commander's approval.

The U.S.-led coalition has about a dozen prisons around Iraq holding a total of 7,000 to 8,000 inmates.

Rumsfeld called the controversy surrounding the prison a "body blow for all of us" and said the people who did wrong will be punished.

The more than 3,000 Iraqis at Abu Ghraib are "security detainees," or people suspected of roles in insurgent attacks on coalition forces, Miller said.

All prisoners under U.S. control will have been moved out of the old prison building by the end of the month, and a new complex of outdoor camps will be built to provide better living conditions.

Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month that any decision to destroy Abu Ghraib prison is best left for the Iraqi interim government expected to take power from the coalition on June 30.

"From my standpoint, I think it's not a bad idea but I think it's really up to the Iraqi people," Rumsfeld had said.

 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Banks urged to follow policies in offering loans

 

   
 

Taiwan's Chen urged to cancel inauguration

 

   
 

Firms notified of new food import policies

 

   
 

Diamonds worth US$1m stolen while on show

 

   
 

President Roh gets back his seat

 

   
 

Cellphones ring in sparkle of good spirit

 

   
  Report: Koizumi to visit N. Korea next week
   
  S. Korean impeached president reinstated
   
  Vajpayee resigns after poll upset
   
  Rumsfeld visits Iraq, vows no abuse cover-up
   
  Expert says Mexico UFOs may have been gas
   
  UK: Abuse photos not taken in Iraq
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Scandal over humiliation of Iraqi prisoners  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 波多野结衣av无码| 黑人一个接一个上来糟蹋| 成人无号精品一区二区三区| 五月天综合网站| 18禁止看的免费污网站| 网友自拍区一区二区三区| 国产熟女一区二区三区五月婷| a在线观看免费| 性做久久久久久久| 久久九九AV免费精品| 欧美A级毛欧美1级a大片免费播放| 亚洲精品线在线观看| 精品久久久久久久久久中文字幕 | 香蕉网在线视频| 国产精品亚洲一区二区三区在线| 99蜜桃在线观看免费视频网站| 小小的日本乱码在线观看免费 | 国产中文字幕乱人伦在线观看| 国产精品jizz在线观看直播| 国产精品亚洲αv天堂2021| 69无人区卡一卡二卡| 在线观看国产日本| xxxxwww日本在线| 少妇高潮喷水久久久久久久久久 | 国产一级二级在线| 麻豆果冻国产91在线极品| 国产熟女一区二区三区五月婷| 在线视频你懂的国产福利 | 国产精品免费_区二区三区观看| 91福利精品老师国产自产在线| 在线观看网址入口2020国产| a级毛片免费高清视频| 女人l8毛片a一级毛片| 一本无码人妻在中文字幕免费| 成人短视频完整版在线播放| 中文字幕永久免费| 无人视频免费观看免费视频 | 人与禽交videosgratisdo视频| 真精华布衣3d1234正版图2020/015| 北岛玲日韩精品一区二区三区| 精品欧美一区二区三区久久久|