Accused Contractor at Abu Ghraib Says He Told Guards What to Do

[Snazzy]

Accused Contractor at Abu Ghraib Says He Told Guards What to Do

By Matt Kelley Associated Press Writer
Published: Jun 14, 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) - In testimony that conflicts with some generals' accounts, a private interrogator accused of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison told investigators that he and military intelligence operatives directed prison guards to keep Iraqi prisoners awake for as much as 20 hours a day.

Steven A. Stefanowicz also said he may have heard, but did not see, some military police physically abusing a prisoner. Otherwise, he said, he did not see any abuses inside Abu Ghraib like those documented in photos that became public this spring.

Stefanowicz, whose own veracity has been questioned in the official prison investigation, told Army investigators in a sworn statement that Col. Thomas Pappas, the military intelligence chief at Abu Ghraib, personally approved of the sleep deprivation tactics.

Prison guards were given copies of written interrogation plans for each inmate, which were prepared by three-person teams comprised of contractors or military intelligence soldiers, Stefanowicz said in the sworn statement obtained by The Associated Press.

....

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBOHO57HVD.html

[whistle]

1. How many smoking guns will it take to impeach BushCo?

[The Stranger]

4. I'm convinced at this point that they can bury anything.

I wouldn't be surprised if good people started "disappearing" under this regime.

[0007]

7. The fuse has been lit, it will take a little time because of its length.

Be patient it will indeed reach its target.

[Cronus Protagonist]

9. Smoking guns are a 2nd amendment issue - not a problem

Proves they like guns and should be elected...


/sarcasm

BLAME BUSH FIRST!

Click here for "BLAME BUSH FIRST", and other fair and balanced yet stunning buttons, magnets and stickers

[librechik]

2. produce those interrogation plans immediately!

subpoenas, please somebody

[Disturbed]

5. Around 2K photos also many Videos

The lawyers bringing the suit should subpena those to see of this guy is in any of the photos. All of the documents of the prison could also be subpenoed. Detainees were raped and murdered in that prison. What agency is investigating those cases?

Congress needs to open an investigation of it's own into War Crimes commited by BushCo!

[saigon68]

3. DISGUST

An Iraqi man holds the sole of a shoe against a British flag, an insult in the Arab world, after it was found amid the debris of a car bomb explosion in the center of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad June 14, 2004. A suicide car bomber blew himself up on a busy Baghdad street on Monday as a convoy of foreigners in civilian cars drove past, partly demolishing a nearby building, police at the scene said. REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber

[nolabels]

6. Two of these private Corporations have a RICO suit filed against them.

I am sure most have seen this, but if not here is a story from the site. It has PDF file (about 2mgs,155 pgs) of the suits filing with many details.


CCR FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST PRIVATE CONTRACTORS FOR TORTURE CONSPIRACY
Charges U.S. Corporations Conspired With Officials To Torture Detainees in Iraq
Synopsis

Two U.S. corporations conspired with U.S. officials to humiliate, torture and abuse persons detained by U.S. authorities in Iraq according to a class action lawsuit filed June 9, 2004, by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Philadelphia law firm of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads. The suit, filed in federal court in San Diego, names as defendants the Titan Corporation of San Diego, California and CACI International of Arlington, Virginia and its subsidiaries, and three individuals who work for the companies. It charges them with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and alleges that the companies engaged in a wide range of heinous and illegal acts in order to demonstrate their abilities to obtain intelligence from detainees, and thereby obtain more contracts from the government.

The lawsuit charges that three individual defendants, Stephen Stephanowicz and John Israel of CACI, Inc. and Adel Nahkla of Titan, directed and participated in illegal conduct at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Further it alleges that CACI International and Titan created a joint enterprise with a third party that became known as Team Titan. The joint enterprise was hired by the U.S. to provide interrogation services in Iraq.

The action also brings claims under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), and the 8th, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as other U.S. and international laws.

According to the Complaint, the plaintiffs in the case suffered at the hands of Defendants and their co-conspiring government officials. Plaintiffs endured the following:
• Being hooded and raped
• Being forced to watch their father tortured and abused so badly that he died
• Repeated beatings, including beatings with chains, boots and other objects
• Being stripped naked and kept in isolation
• Being urinated on and otherwise humiliated
• Being prevented from praying and otherwise abiding by their religious practices

CACI and TITAN are publicly traded corporations that provide interrogation and translation services to U.S. government agencies. According to the complaint, beginning in January 2002, and continuing to the present, the two companies began providing services ranging from interrogation and interpretation to intelligence gathering and security. The complaint reveals that both companies were increasingly dependent on government contracts for revenue. Titan, for example, developed a unit known as “National Security Solutions,” which added 21 percent to its revenue growth in 2003.
(snip)
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=TutDBqRhAY&Content=387

[jdj]

8. This is great.

thanks for posting it.

[TorchTheWitch]

10. oooooooo!

Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads? That's a big ass firm in Philly. Supposed to be one of the top 200 firms in the country or some such thing like that.

They have something on their site about this case:
http://www.mmwr.com/index.cfm?FUSEACTION=wn.homeMain

Well, well... one of their practice areas is public election law... I wonder if the BBV folks have talked to them???