Excerpt from below:
MP in abuse scandal offers to plead guilty
Sivits offers detailed account of prisoner mistreatment
Washingtonpost.com | 14 May 04 | Christian Davenport
Updated: 12:03 a.m. ET May 14, 2004
One of the military police officers charged in the abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has offered to plead guilty and has provided military investigators with a detailed account of how guards humiliated and beat detainees, in one case hitting a prisoner so hard he became unconscious.
Spec. Jeremy C. Sivits, one of the seven members of the 372nd Military Police Company facing charges in the case, told investigators in a sworn statement that other prison guards forced detainees to strip, masturbate and pile on top of one another. Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II forced two detainees to punch each other, Sivits told investigators, according to a transcript.
In another instance, he said, Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr. put a sandbag over a detainee's head and "punched the detainee with a closed fist so hard in the temple that the detainee was knocked unconscious."
"I walked over to see if the detainee was still alive," Sivits said, according to the transcript. He lay there motionless with his eyes closed for about two minutes, Sivits said, before he moved "for the first time, like he was coming to."
Transcripts of two statements Sivits made in January were provided by Harvey Volzer, a lawyer representing Spec. Megan M. Ambuhl, another soldier charged in the case. Sivits's father has said that the family cannot afford a civilian lawyer, and the identity of Sivits's military attorney could not be learned last night.
Sivits, 24, of Hyndman, Pa., admitted in the statement that he photographed the abuse but never reported it. His offer to plead guilty in the case has been accepted by the staff judge advocate overseeing his court-martial, according to a memo reviewed by The Washington Post and lawyers representing some of the other charged soldiers. It could not be determined which charge he has pleaded guilty to.
Agrees to testify
Sivits has been ordered to face a special court-martial, a proceeding similar to a misdemeanor trial in which defendants face a maximum prison sentence of one year. That, combined with the plea, indicates that he has agreed to testify against other soldiers in the case, Volzer and legal experts have said.
On Wednesday, military authorities announced that Frederick and Sgt. Javal S. Davis, 26, of Nottingham, Md., would face general courts-martial, proceedings that can result in much more severe sentences. They will be arraigned next Thursday, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Sivits's trial is set for Wednesday.
In his statement, Sivits implicated five of six other soldiers charged in the case. Lawyers representing the soldiers or their families have denied anything illegal was done.
Most of Sivits's statement concerns the night of last Oct. 3. Frederick had asked him to come to holding cells in the Abu Ghraib prison where some new detainees had just arrived.
Sivits said that after he and Frederick got there, some detainees were put in a pile on the floor. Sivits said Davis ran into the room and "lunged into the air and landed in the middle of where the detainees were."
Davis, 26, then stomped "on either the fingers or toes of the detainees," he said, causing them to "scream loudly." Sivits said Frederick later hit a detainee in the chest "for no reason."
"The detainee took a deep breath and kind of squatted down," Sivits said. "The detainee said he could not [breathe]. They called for a medic to come down to try to get the detainee to [breathe] right."
Bill Lawson, Frederick's uncle, said Frederick "shoved" one prisoner who was trying to "start some kind of a scuffle." Frederick has maintained that "he has never lifted a finger against any prisoner in Iraq," Lawson said.
'Ah, does that hurt?'
At another point, he said, a detainee with gunshot wounds to his leg was handcuffed to a bed. Graner then apparently picked up an object and struck the man's wounds "with a half baseball swing," Sivits said. The detainee begged Graner to stop, saying, " 'Mister, Mister please stop,' or words to that effect."
Sivits said Graner responded by saying, "in a baby-type voice, 'Ah, does that hurt?' "
Sivits said he thought Graner hit the captive because "he was still angry because this detainee had tried to kill one of our soldiers."
Paul Bergrin, a Newark lawyer who is representing Davis, said Sivits's statement was "fabricated" and "self-serving."
"This is in order to cover up for his own misdeeds and mischievous behavior," he said.
Guy Womack, an attorney for Graner, said Sivits's statement " is of dubious value because he's trading information to try to help himself."
He also said he is not convinced that the person identified in Sivits's statement is his client. Throughout the statement, Graner's name is spelled "Grainer" and his rank is given as corporal, not specialist.
Sivits said he saw two other soldiers, Specs. Lynndie R. England and Sabrina D. Harman, posing for photos with naked detainees.
Sivits told investigators that the abuse would not have happened had higher-ranking members been present. "Our command would have slammed us," he said. "They believe in doing the right thing. If they saw what was going on, there would be hell to pay."
That statement echoes testimony given by one of the initial investigators on the case. During Ambuhl's Article 32 hearing, a session similar to a grand jury proceeding, Tyler Pieron, an Army criminal investigator, said the abuses occurred "after the chain of command had changed shifts and gone home."
Both Sivits and Pieron said that a sergeant first class at one point witnessed an incident and ordered the soldiers to stop. Pieron said he thought the sergeant saw Davis stepping on a detainee.
"They were surprised at how angry he was when he told them to stop," Pieron said.
Sivits said he did not report the abuse to his commanders because Graner told him not to, "and I try to be friends with everyone. I see now where trying to be friends with everyone can cost you."
Uhhh... why should Rumsfeld resign again, I mean other than to appease the liberals who have a blind haterd of Bush..???
MP in abuse scandal offers to plead guilty
Sivits offers detailed account of prisoner mistreatment
Washingtonpost.com | 14 May 04 | Christian Davenport
Updated: 12:03 a.m. ET May 14, 2004
One of the military police officers charged in the abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has offered to plead guilty and has provided military investigators with a detailed account of how guards humiliated and beat detainees, in one case hitting a prisoner so hard he became unconscious.
Spec. Jeremy C. Sivits, one of the seven members of the 372nd Military Police Company facing charges in the case, told investigators in a sworn statement that other prison guards forced detainees to strip, masturbate and pile on top of one another. Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II forced two detainees to punch each other, Sivits told investigators, according to a transcript.
In another instance, he said, Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr. put a sandbag over a detainee's head and "punched the detainee with a closed fist so hard in the temple that the detainee was knocked unconscious."
"I walked over to see if the detainee was still alive," Sivits said, according to the transcript. He lay there motionless with his eyes closed for about two minutes, Sivits said, before he moved "for the first time, like he was coming to."
Transcripts of two statements Sivits made in January were provided by Harvey Volzer, a lawyer representing Spec. Megan M. Ambuhl, another soldier charged in the case. Sivits's father has said that the family cannot afford a civilian lawyer, and the identity of Sivits's military attorney could not be learned last night.
Sivits, 24, of Hyndman, Pa., admitted in the statement that he photographed the abuse but never reported it. His offer to plead guilty in the case has been accepted by the staff judge advocate overseeing his court-martial, according to a memo reviewed by The Washington Post and lawyers representing some of the other charged soldiers. It could not be determined which charge he has pleaded guilty to.
Agrees to testify
Sivits has been ordered to face a special court-martial, a proceeding similar to a misdemeanor trial in which defendants face a maximum prison sentence of one year. That, combined with the plea, indicates that he has agreed to testify against other soldiers in the case, Volzer and legal experts have said.
On Wednesday, military authorities announced that Frederick and Sgt. Javal S. Davis, 26, of Nottingham, Md., would face general courts-martial, proceedings that can result in much more severe sentences. They will be arraigned next Thursday, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Sivits's trial is set for Wednesday.
In his statement, Sivits implicated five of six other soldiers charged in the case. Lawyers representing the soldiers or their families have denied anything illegal was done.
Most of Sivits's statement concerns the night of last Oct. 3. Frederick had asked him to come to holding cells in the Abu Ghraib prison where some new detainees had just arrived.
Sivits said that after he and Frederick got there, some detainees were put in a pile on the floor. Sivits said Davis ran into the room and "lunged into the air and landed in the middle of where the detainees were."
Davis, 26, then stomped "on either the fingers or toes of the detainees," he said, causing them to "scream loudly." Sivits said Frederick later hit a detainee in the chest "for no reason."
"The detainee took a deep breath and kind of squatted down," Sivits said. "The detainee said he could not [breathe]. They called for a medic to come down to try to get the detainee to [breathe] right."
Bill Lawson, Frederick's uncle, said Frederick "shoved" one prisoner who was trying to "start some kind of a scuffle." Frederick has maintained that "he has never lifted a finger against any prisoner in Iraq," Lawson said.
'Ah, does that hurt?'
At another point, he said, a detainee with gunshot wounds to his leg was handcuffed to a bed. Graner then apparently picked up an object and struck the man's wounds "with a half baseball swing," Sivits said. The detainee begged Graner to stop, saying, " 'Mister, Mister please stop,' or words to that effect."
Sivits said Graner responded by saying, "in a baby-type voice, 'Ah, does that hurt?' "
Sivits said he thought Graner hit the captive because "he was still angry because this detainee had tried to kill one of our soldiers."
Paul Bergrin, a Newark lawyer who is representing Davis, said Sivits's statement was "fabricated" and "self-serving."
"This is in order to cover up for his own misdeeds and mischievous behavior," he said.
Guy Womack, an attorney for Graner, said Sivits's statement " is of dubious value because he's trading information to try to help himself."
He also said he is not convinced that the person identified in Sivits's statement is his client. Throughout the statement, Graner's name is spelled "Grainer" and his rank is given as corporal, not specialist.
Sivits said he saw two other soldiers, Specs. Lynndie R. England and Sabrina D. Harman, posing for photos with naked detainees.
Sivits told investigators that the abuse would not have happened had higher-ranking members been present. "Our command would have slammed us," he said. "They believe in doing the right thing. If they saw what was going on, there would be hell to pay."
That statement echoes testimony given by one of the initial investigators on the case. During Ambuhl's Article 32 hearing, a session similar to a grand jury proceeding, Tyler Pieron, an Army criminal investigator, said the abuses occurred "after the chain of command had changed shifts and gone home."
Both Sivits and Pieron said that a sergeant first class at one point witnessed an incident and ordered the soldiers to stop. Pieron said he thought the sergeant saw Davis stepping on a detainee.
"They were surprised at how angry he was when he told them to stop," Pieron said.
Sivits said he did not report the abuse to his commanders because Graner told him not to, "and I try to be friends with everyone. I see now where trying to be friends with everyone can cost you."
