Soldiers Detail Iraqi Abuse of Prisoners

Oregon National Guard soldiers tried to stop Iraqi jailers from abusing dozens of prisoners, but were ordered to return the prisoners to their abusers and leave, according to an article published in the Oregonian, which had a writer with the unit.

A soldier with the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, spotted a man beating a prisoner June 29 -- Iraq’s first official day as a sovereign country -- in a courtyard near the Interior Ministry, the newspaper reported in Sunday’s edition. Members of the unit later saw other prisoners who appeared to have been beaten, and items such as metal rods and rubber hoses that could have been used to torture them.

Capt. Jarrell Southall gave the newspaper a written account of the incident and other guardsmen, speaking on condition of anonymity, echoed his account, the newspaper said.

The U.S. Embassy in Iraq said that the United States had raised questions about the “brutality” with Iraq’s interior minister. The embassy said the members of the Guard “acted professionally and calmly to ease tensions and defend prisoners who needed help.”

The incident reportedly occurred after Iraqi officials announced a crackdown on crime and police and security forces arrested about 150 people in a Baghdad neighborhood. They were taken to the grounds of the Interior Ministry.

The Oregon soldiers who were on a routine neighborhood patrol alerted headquarters. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Daniel Hendrickson, led a group of soldiers to the compound and entered the detention yard unchallenged, according to the account by Southall, of Newark, Calif., who serves with the Oregon Guard.

The guardsmen separated the prisoners from the Iraqi police and gave the prisoners water and administered first aid. “Many of these prisoners had bruises and cuts and belt or hose marks all over,” Southall said. “I witnessed prisoners who were barely able to walk.”

After Hendrickson radioed the Army’s 1st Cavalry for instructions, he was told to return the prisoners to the Iraqi authorities and leave the detention yard.