Soldier facing court martial tells of Abu Ghraib abuses

Leaked statement includes account of guards jumping on pyramids of naked Iraqis and sexual humiliations
The first US soldier to stand trial for the abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison has offered a guilty plea, and given prosecutors an account of how guards constructed the scenes of naked humiliated prisoners that have haunted America.

In sworn statements to investigators, leaked to US newspapers yesterday, Specialist Jeremy Sivits provides reveal ing details about brutal beatings at Abu Ghraib, and sexual humiliation.

He describes how his fellow guards took running jumps on human pyramids of naked Iraqis, forced them to masturbate, or arranged them in poses suggesting sex acts.

The pictures of grinning US soldiers posing with a heap of naked Iraqi men caused international outrage when they first aired two weeks ago on American television, and have led to daily revelations of abuse of detainees in America's war on terror.

In a further effort to make amends yesterday, the Pentagon freed more than 300 detainees from the notorious jail.

The prisoners, the first to be released since the abuse scandal erupted, were bussed out in a convoy past dozens of waiting relatives and journalists who gave chase through the suburbs of Baghdad, until the US military blocked the highway with a tank.

Spc Sivits is to face a special court martial next Wednesday at Baghdad's convention centre. Lawyers for other guards allege he has made a deal with investigators to testify against his former comrades for a lighter sentence. Under a special court martial, he faces a maximum sentence of a year.

Spc Sivits's version of the events at Abu Ghraib last autumn implicates five of the six other soldiers charged in the scandal. In US press reports yesterday, two male soldiers appear to have been central ac tors in the abuse: Spc Charles Graner Jr, who worked as a prison guard in civilian life, and Staff Sgt Ivan "Chip" Frederick II. Spc Graner faces seven charges including maltreatment, adultery, cruelty, dereliction of duty, committing indecent acts, and obstruction of justice, the US military said yesterday.

However, Sgt Javal Davis also allegedly played a part. After the naked handcuffed detainees were forced to form a human pile on the floor, Sgt Davis is said to have taken a running jump and landed on the prisoners.

Although it is a harrowing account, in one aspect at least it will reassure the Pentagon. Spc Sivits denies the claim of another guard that the scenes of sexual humiliation were ordered by the troops' commanders. "Our commanders would have slammed us. They believed in doing the right thing. If they saw what was going on, there would be hell to pay."

On one occasion, Spc Sivits says, Spc Graner "punched the detainee so hard in the temple that it knocked the detainee unconscious". He notes that the guard was laughing - "like he was enjoying it".

His recollection of Sgt Frederick's activities include an occasion when the guard forced two detainees to punch each other, and once punched another prisoner in the chest so hard the detainee could hardly breathe. Sgt Frederick also forced prisoners to masturbate, according to Spc Sivits.

Further revelations are in store next week when Spc Sivits appears in the full media glare of a military trial. But the wider question of what will happen to Abu Ghraib next has so far not been answered. Most Iraqis - and some senior officials within the Pentagon - want the jail to be bulldozed.

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