US military admits interrogators intentionally desecrated the Quran
Regional-USA, Politics, 6/4/2005

The US military said yesterday it has concluded its investigation into the Quran desecration allegations and reports. The report confirms that the Quran was intentionally desecrated in what seems to be a pattern that implicates the interrogators involved used this practice to force extraction of information from detainees.

The military report said "We found nine incidents (seven guard, two interrogator) alleging, intentional or unintentional mishandling of a Quran, but only five could be confirmed. a. Guards. We identified seven incidents (four confirmed) where the guards' conduct may have been inappropriate. After thorough investigation we do not believe further investigation is warranted for any of these incidents and consider them all closed."

The report said " During an interrogation in FEB 02, a detainee complained that guards at Camp X-ray kicked the Quran of a detainee in a neighboring cell four to five days earlier. The interrogator reported the first detainee's complaint in a memorandum dated 27 FEB 02. The interrogator confirmed that the guards were aware of the detainee's complaint. There is no evidence of further investigation concerning this incident; however, we consider this a confirmed incident."

The report said "On 21 FEB 02, a detainee, started shouting, "God is great," and would not stop. The guards asked why he was shouting and he stated that one of the guards had kicked his Quran. The incident was reported in a JTF-160 intelligence report. The report stated the guards were questioned and denied kicking anyone's Quran. It is unclear from the report who questioned the guards concerning the incident. We found no evidence of further investigation concerning the incident. The detainee's hard copy record did not mention the incident. We do not believe further investigation is warranted and consider the incident closed."

The report said "On 24 FEB 02, a detainee refused recreation time and his cell was searched. A rock hidden in a canteen and a nail hidden in a bucket were found during the search. The detainee was returned to his cell after the search and he fell on the ground. He claimed that the guards hit him in the groin, threw him on the ground and then kicked his Quran. A number of the detainees on the block stated they no longer wanted recreation time until the guards stopped disrespecting the Quran. The incident was reported in a JTF-160 intelligence report. We found no evidence of further investigation concerning the incident."

The report said "During an interrogation on 14 APR 03, a detainee complained to FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) interrogators that guards constantly defile the Quran. The incident was recorded in an memorandum, dated 15 APR 03, that summarized the interrogation. The detainee cited an instance where a female MP allegedly threw a Quran into a bag of wet towels to anger an unknown detainee (date of alleged incident unknown). He also alleged another MP told a detainee that the Quran belonged in the toilet (date unknown), and that the MP told detainees they were ordered to do these types of things. The detainee stated that these are things he has actually seen or heard and not just rumors. It is unclear from the report what the detainee actually observed or overheard (if anything) as opposed to what he was reporting that he was told by other detainees. We have no record of any further investigation concerning the incident. There is no record that the detainee mentioned any Quran mishandling in previous interrogations or that he mentioned Quran mishandling in subsequent interrogations. There is no mention of any Quran incident in the detainee's hard copy records. The detainee has been released from Guantanamo."

The report said "On 21 AUG 03, a detainee complained to guards that an interrogator had asked why he wanted to be a Muslim and put his foot on the Quran. The detainee's complaint was recorded in an Intelligence Report (INTREP) activity log dated 21 AUG 03. The detainee did not state when the alleged mishandling occurred. It is unclear from the log whether it was the detainee's or the interrogator's foot that was placed on the Quran."

The report reveals that the US military, and perhaps other US agencies, are subcontracting interrogators. It is not clear what the implications of this practice is and its scale, and if it is meant to circumvent Military Standard Practice procedures concerned, as we have reported earlier, and to circumvent other human rights protections and conventions that the US belong to.

While these revelations are interesting in that this detention center is the most likely to have the best supervision because of the controversy it is under and the proximity to the US mainland, there have been reports of widespread abuse by Amnesty International about detention centers the US has set worldwide. The US has so far refused human rights organizations into these detention centers for independent verifications.

Previous Stories:
  Rumsfeld says detainees treatment is transparent and up to standards   (6/2/2005)
  Bush denounces report against American treatment of detainees as 'absurd'   (6/1/2005)
  A United States historic admission: we did not support freedom and democracy; decided to change this policy   (5/28/2005)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search