Some Prisoners Allege Abuse by Poles, Other Coalition Troops

Some Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib said they were abused by troops from Poland and other unspecified coalition countries, according to copies of statements to Army investigators obtained Thursday.

The records of interviews by Army Criminal Investigation Division agents include new allegations that coalition forces had beaten prisoners before turning them over to Americans.

Sgt. Antonio Monserrate, an Army interrogator, told investigators that two detainees had been “injured by the Polish army.” Monserrate referred to the inmates by their prison identification numbers but did not provide any further details.

Polish forces operate in south-central Iraq. Prisoners also accused Iraqi forces of abusing them but named no other country in the documents.

Other civilian and military workers at Abu Ghraib mentioned claims by prisoners that they had been beaten by “coalition forces” before arriving at the U.S.-run prison outside Baghdad.

“Many detainees complained about physical abuse while in detention caused by C.F. [coalition forces], not U.S. forces,” civilian intelligence analyst Luke Olander told investigators.

One soldier has been convicted and six others are facing military charges in the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal.

Most of the soldiers charged say military and civilian intelligence operatives encouraged them to beat and humiliate Iraqi prisoners to make the detainees more pliable during interrogations. Top Army brass have said they never condoned any abuse.

The statements also give new details about abuses allegedly directly ordered by U.S. military intelligence personnel.

Civilian interpreter Bakeer Naseef told an interviewer that one U.S. military interrogator forced a prisoner to walk naked through the prison while saying, “Look at me!” Naseef said he could not remember the interrogator’s name.