Panel: Prison abuses reveal ‘string of failures’

An independent panel created by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to review military detention operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo found widespread abuses, but no evidence of a policy of abuse promulgated by senior officials or military authorities.

"Abuses of varying severity occurred at differing locations under differing circumstances and context. They were widespread and, though inflicted on only a small percentage of those detained, they were serious both in number and in effect. No approved procedures called for or allowed the kinds of abuses that in fact occurred," the report found. "Still, the abuses were not just the failure of some individuals to follow known standards, and they are more than the failure of a few leaders to enforce proper discipline. There is both institutional and personal responsibility at higher levels."

The consequences of the abuses have been enormous, the panel noted, and have had a "chilling effect" on interrogations and intelligence gathering in the war on terrorism. It is critical that all federal agencies adapt to new realities far different from those of the Cold War, and further define their policies regarding the status and treatment of detainees, the panel noted in its report.

Although panel members were highly critical of senior Defense Department officials and military leaders for failing to provide the deployed military forces with adequate resources, none believed that any civilian Defense leaders, including Rumsfeld, should resign over the abuses. Panel members were more circumspect in their comments about the culpability of senior military leaders, especially Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who commanded military operations in Iraq, although they declined to recommend any specific personnel actions be taken.

The panel noted in its report that further disciplinary actions likely would be taken with the completion of an investigation into military intelligence operations. Part of that report is to be released to the public later this week.

Panel member Harold Brown, former Defense secretary during the Carter administration, said, "A lot of careers are going to be ruined over this. There was dereliction of duty among some, and errors in judgment by others."

Citing the widely circulated photos depicting "acts of brutality and purposeless sadism" that occurred on Tier 1 at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad last October through December, the panel found "these abuses occurred at the hands of both military police and military intelligence personnel. The pictured abuses, unacceptable even in wartime, were not part of authorized interrogations, nor were they even directed at intelligence targets. They represent deviant behavior and a failure of military leadership and discipline. However, we do know that some of the egregious abuses at Abu Ghraib which were not photographed did occur during interrogation sessions and that abuses during interrogation sessions occurred elsewhere."

The panel concurred with the findings of an earlier Army investigation into abuses at Abu Ghraib, which found confusing lines of authority between military intelligence personnel and military police operating at the prison and rampant disciplinary problems within elements of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

The panel made numerous recommendations, including:

• Hiring more specialists, including linguists, interrogators, police, behavioral scientists and intelligence personnel for detention and interrogation operations.
• Expanding military police and military intelligence units.
• Developing well-documented policies and procedures on approved interrogation techniques.
• Developing a professional ethics program for all personnel engaged in detainee operations.
• Defining relationships between the CIA and the Defense Department with regard to detention and interrogation operations.
• Fostering a productive relationship between the Defense Department and the International Committee of the Red Cross.