Almost 300 photographs and 19 videos showing abuse at Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive] have been published by Salon.com (
link to report and photo archive), in what Salon says is the entire archive of Army photos related to abuse at the Iraqi prison.
The photos published Tuesday date back to late 2003 and include a picture of a naked Iraqi prisoner with injuries allegedly caused by US military dogs. The web magazine said it obtained the archive of Army photos from "a military source who spent time at Abu Ghraib and who is familiar with the Army probe." An Army spokesman said the photos, most of which have been published previously, provide no new information about the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib.
Previously unpublished images from Abu Ghraib caused humanitarian groups to condemn the acts of abuse when they were shown on Australian television [
program transcript] in February.
The Pentagon has criticized the release of new pictures, saying they could increase the danger to American soldiers.
From AP:
Quote:Online Magazine Publishes Abu Ghraib Photos
Mar 14, 7:26 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The online news magazine Salon.com published on Tuesday what it called the complete archive of the Army's photographic evidence in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse investigations.
The archive included a photo depicting a naked Iraqi detainee with bleeding wounds allegedly from an attack by U.S. military dogs.
Most of the photos had been published before. Salon.com said it was the first news organization to publish the full file of photos collected by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, which had previously released some in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Col. Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman, said the photos provide no new insights into the abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib, which came to light in April 2004 and has been the subject of nearly a dozen official investigations.
The act of publishing additional photos, however, could stir more controversy, as occurred when an Australian television station in February broadcast images of Abu Ghraib abuse that had not previously been aired publicly.
A few days later, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a congressional committee, "I'm told that these photographs that are coming out now are nothing more than the same things that came out before, if not identical, of the same type of behavior. That behavior's been punished."
Salon.com said it obtained the full archive of Army photos from "a military source who spent time at Abu Ghraib and who is familiar with the Army probe."
Among the 279 photos published by the online magazine on Tuesday were at least two dated Dec. 12, 2003, showing a naked detainee on the jail floor. Both are accompanied by what Salon.com called an original Army caption that read, "Detainee after dog bite."
One photo clearly showed the man's bloodied knees and the other was taken from behind him as he lay face down on the floor with blood near his leg.
Pentagon investigations of the Abu Ghraib abuse found that dogs were improperly used.
Salon.com said it obtained a copy of an April 2005 statement by Cpl. Charles A. Graner Jr. to Army criminal investigators that may have described the incident depicted in the photographs.
Graner, who was a key player in the prisoner abuse scandal, said he had ordered two dogs and their handlers brought to an Abu Ghraib cell to search for contraband or weapons that Graner thought might have been smuggled through an open window.
By Graner's account, he opened the cell and the detainee "bolted towards the door" and began punching and kicking Graner. At least one of the dog handlers released his dog on the man, and the detainee was bitten several times in the legs, Salon.com said.
Graner said pictures were taken so that one of the dog handlers could use them in a report about the incident.
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