U.S. Soldiers in Iraq Accused of Abuse

The military has charged four U.S. soldiers with abusing prisoners of war in Iraq, a spokesman said Saturday. The soldiers and their families deny the accusations.

The four members of the military police from a Pennsylvania-based Army Reserve unit are accused of punching, kicking and breaking bones of prisoners at Camp Bucca near Umm al Qasr in southern Iraq.

The soldiers, charged this month, are the first U.S. troops known to face charges of abusing prisoners in the Iraq conflict.

The military’s investigation continues, said Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Balice, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command. Balice confirmed that four soldiers had been charged but said he could not release their names.

The identities of those charged, as well as the specific allegations against them, were obtained in interviews Saturday with the parents of all four.

The soldiers say they acted in self-defense when Iraqi prisoners attacked them.

“A few of my MPs were assaulted by the enemy prisoners, and we had to use force to regain control, all justifiable,” one of the accused, Staff Sgt. Scott McKenzie, e-mailed relatives five days after the May 12 incident.

The four are not jailed but have been given restricted duties, separated from one another and assigned to a base in Kuwait, away from the rest of their unit. Military authorities told the four this month to stop talking about the case, relatives said.

Family members say they are worried about the stress on the four soldiers.

“If one of them commits suicide, if one of them gets killed, somebody has to answer for that,” said Carol Graff, mother of accused Master Sgt. Lisa Girman.

The soldiers are awaiting an Article 32 hearing, a military proceeding where prosecutors lay out evidence of a crime and a commander decides whether to convene a court-martial.

At least three other soldiers from the 320th Military Police Battalion also are being investigated, relatives said. The unit is based in Ashley, Pa.

“I can’t believe they’re treating the soldiers this way,” said Linda Edmondson, mother of accused Sgt. Shawna Edmondson. “All they did was go help transport prisoners.”

The four accused members of the U.S. Army’s 320th Military Police Battalion face up to five charges each of assault and mistreating prisoners.

McKenzie, 37, and Girman, 35, also face charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice.

Spec. Tim Canjar, 21, also is charged with making false statements.

Edmondson, 24, is charged with assault, mistreatment and dereliction of duty. McKenzie wrote in an e-mail to Rep. John E. Peterson (R-Pa.) that the prisoners included Iraqis who had tortured and killed U.S. POWs. Several of the prisoners resisted and had to be wrestled to the ground, McKenzie wrote.

Military authorities allege that Canjar held the legs of prisoner Hamza Alajyly while Girman and Edmondson kicked Alajyly. Canjar is also accused of twisting detainee Abdul Amir Rasheed’s already injured arm.

Other allegations are that the MPs dragged prisoners along the ground and broke a prisoner’s nose.

All four soldiers deny doing those things.

Relatives say the accused soldiers are not the kind who would abuse prisoners.

“I wasn’t there, but I know my son,” said Canjar’s father, James. “He’s not a bully. He would act in self-defense, and that’s it.”