55 from Interior Ministry charged

Iraq’s new interior minister on Monday announced charges against 55 police officers and other department employees, amid heavy U.S. and domestic pressure to clean up his security forces.

U.S. officials and members of the once-dominant Sunni Arab minority believe the ministry has been infiltrated by Shiite Muslim militiamen and become a tool in the country’s sectarian war.

“The Iraqi government and Ministry of Interior will not permit these violations to continue,” Interior Minister Jawad Bolani told reporters at his office in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. “Whoever abuses power will be brought to justice, regardless of their position or background.”

The announcement of charges came on a day when five U.S. troops were reported killed in separate incidents, including two soldiers who died when their helicopter crashed in Saddam Hussein’s home province of Salahuddin.

Allegations of corruption and violence within Iraq’s Shiite-dominated police force have flourished since the discovery last November of a secret Interior Ministry detention facility in Baghdad operated by intelligence officials affiliated with a Shiite militia.

Officers are accused of starving and beating prisoners to death, participating in kidnapping rings and releasing terrorism suspects in exchange for bribes, among other abuses detailed by government officials and the security forces’ American trainers.

Iraqi police are also accused of forming death squads responsible for sectarian killings, such as those of eight unidentified victims whose bodies were found discarded Monday in parts of east Baghdad -- most of them cuffed, blindfolded and shot multiple times.

When Bolani and other Interior Ministry members visited a Baghdad lockup in May, they found that many of the 1,400 detainees bore signs of torture and beatings, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

After Bolani formally took over as minister in June, he appointed three committees to investigate abuses by officers, noncommissioned officers and ordinary policemen at the facility known as Prison Site 4.

The committees, which began their work Aug. 23, collected evidence of human rights abuses and negligence against 20 officers ranging in rank from lieutenant to major general, Bolani said. Similar cases were brought against 20 noncommissioned officers, as well as 17 policemen and civilian employees, he said.

One officer confessed to his crimes and was disciplined “administratively,” the minister said, without elaborating. Another was killed in the course of duty, and the remaining cases were referred to Iraq’s judicial system for prosecution.

“It is now up to the court to decide their fate,” Bolani said.

The results of similar investigations initiated by Bolani’s predecessor, Bayan Jabr, have never been released.

“These investigations are frozen,” said Omar Jabouri, a prominent member of the Iraqi Islamic Party who is also an advocate for the rights of Sunni detainees. “The Shiites control everything.”

A U.S. official close to the Interior Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed the delay on recent turbulence at the department.

“There have been seven ministers in 2 1/2 years, so lack of continuity in projects that are not too popular is an issue,” the official said. “But this is a minister who shows some interest in bringing these issues to a conclusion.”

The U.S. military said there was no evidence Monday’s helicopter crash was the result of hostile fire. The two soldiers who died were attached to the Hawaii-based 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.

Other deaths announced Monday included those of a Marine and a soldier. They died Monday of wounds sustained in fighting in Al Anbar province. Another Marine died in fighting in Al Anbar on Saturday.

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zavis@latimes.com

Times staff writer Borzou Daragahi and special correspondents in Baghdad contributed to this report.