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Contractors' status in Iraq hits gray area By James Rosen -- Bee Washington BureauPublished 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 23, 2004 WASHINGTON - Less than three weeks after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal exploded, Army Spc. Jeremy Sivits has been convicted of wrongdoing, and six other soldiers face courts-martial. All seven soldiers were cited by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba in his report on Abu Ghraib, but two others named and harshly criticized as likely playing key roles in the scandal have yet to be charged. Steven Stefanowicz and John Israel are civilian contractors, part of a growing trend of nonmilitary...

WASHINGTON - Many of the worst abuses that have come to light from the Abu Ghraib prison happened on a single November day amid a flare of insurgent violence in Iraq (news - web sites), the deaths of many U.S. soldiers and a breakdown of the American guards' command structure. Nov. 8 was the day U.S. guards took most of the infamous photographs: soldiers mugging in front of a pile of naked, hooded Iraqis, prisoners forced to perform or simulate sex acts, a hooded prisoner in a scarecrow-like pose with wires attached to him. It was unclear Friday whether most...

May 21, 2004OP-ED COLUMNIST'Gooks' to 'Hajis'By BOB HERBERT he hapless Jeremy Sivits got the headlines yesterday. A mechanic whose job was to service gasoline-powered generators, Specialist Sivits was sentenced to a year in prison and thrown out of the Army for accepting an invitation to take part in the sadistic treatment of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.But there's another soldier in serious trouble to whom we should be paying even closer attention. His case doesn't just call into question the treatment of prisoners by U.S. forces. It calls into question this entire abominable war.Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia is...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A tearful U.S. soldier was sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday after pleading guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees in a scandal threatening to undermine President Bush's re-election chances. Military policeman Jeremy Sivits, who apologized to Iraqis at the first court martial of soldiers accused of abuses which sparked worldwide outrage, was also expelled from the army. It was not enough for Iraqis protesting outside Abu Ghraib prison, scene of the scandal that came to light when pictures were published of naked and terrified Iraqi inmates being abused and sexually humiliated. "It's a kangaroo court, set up...

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Human rights monitors have complained they will not be allowed to observe in Baghdad the first court-martial of a US soldier accused of abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib prison. "Barring human rights monitors from the court martial is a bad decision in its own right," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division in a statement. "It also sends a terrible signal to Iraqis and others deeply concerned about what transpired in Abu Ghraib." The New York-based rights watchdog said other, Iraq (news - web sites)-based groups were also...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of abuse in the first court-martial stemming from abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. Sivits was charged with maltreatment of detainees, dereliction of duty for failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment and maltreating one prisoner by escorting him "to be positioned in a pile on the floor to be assaulted by other soldiers." Capt. Scott Dunn, Sivits' lawyer, entered the plea on his behalf and expressed concern about the huge media coverage of the trial, asking "can you make a...

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. [...] Sivits told investigators that the abuse would not have...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - No television cameras will be allowed in the courtroom at next week's court-martial of a U.S. soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt indicated Monday. The U.S. military normally allows family members, observers and print reporters to attend trials, he said at a briefing. "It has not been our practice in the past to have cameras inside," Kimmitt said. Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., a member of the 372nd Military Police Company, will face a military court in Baghdad on May 19 — less than a month after photos...

The trial next week of an American military policeman on charges of mistreating Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison is likely to disappoint people eager for a thorough airing of the available evidence. It may also frustrate those who would like to see tough punishment should his guilt be established. Both the speed with which the policeman, Specialist Jeremy Sivits, has been brought to trial and the relatively minor sanctions he faces suggest that prosecutors are working their way up the chain of culpability from the bottom. These factors also suggest that Specialist Sivits has entered into a plea agreement...

NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. forces stepped up pressure on Shiite gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, pushing with tanks into the holy city of Kufa and assaulting militia positions in the narrow streets of a Shiite enclave in Baghdad. At least 34 Iraqis were killed. The U.S. military also said a 24-year-old military policeman will be the first soldier to face a court-martial in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, a member of the 372nd Military Police Company, has been charged with conspiracy to maltreat subordinates and detainees, dereliction of duty for...

First GI Faces Court-Martial Over Abuse 05:32 AM EST - May 10, 2004 The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq The U.S. military next week will begin the first in a series of courts-martial in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse allegations, trials that could bring new revelations on whether the mistreatment of Iraqis was an aberration or stemmed from pressure from commanders.Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Penn., a member of the 372nd Military Police Company, will face a military court in Baghdad on May 19 - less than a month after photos of prisoners being abused and humiliated were first broadcast...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 9 — A 24-year-old military policeman from Pennsylvania will be court-martialed here on May 19, the first American soldier to face trial in the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, military officials said Sunday. In an extraordinary gesture to address outrage over the abuse scandal, the military is permitting broad public access to the trial and will invite the Arab news media. The policeman, Specialist Jeremy Sivits, who American officials contend took some of the photographs of Iraqi prisoners that captured the abuse as it unfolded, is one of seven American soldiers to face criminal...

  First Court-Martial Set in Abu Ghraib Case, Operations Continue By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 9, 2004 – The first court-martial to arise from allegations of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison will be held in Baghdad beginning May 19, U.S. officials in Baghdad said today. Army Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits is facing three charges: conspiracy to maltreat subordinates and detainees; dereliction of duty for negligently failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment; and maltreatment of detainees. The court-martial will be held at the Convention Center in Baghdad's Green Zone. It will be...