First Court-Martial Set in Abu Ghraib Case, Operations Continue

DoD-AFPS ^ | May 9, 2004 | Jim Garamone

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

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 open to the press, officials said. According to Washington officials, Sivits could receive up to one year in prison, reduction in grade to private, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for up to a year and a fine. He also may receive a bad-conduct discharge.

Besides announcing the upcoming court-martial, coalition military spokesman Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt also spoke about continuing operations in Iraq. He said conditions have been "relatively stable." Over the past 24 hours, coalition forces conducted 1,720 patrols, flew 31 Air Force and Navy sorties and captured 25 anti-coalition suspects, Kimmitt said.

In Baghdad, the 1st Cavalry Division conducted a cordon-and-search operation May 8, aimed at a former headquarters used by followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The division had received intelligence that Sadr loyalists were attempting to reclaim their former headquarters. The soldiers detained six militia members and confiscated documents. One of the detained Iraqis appears to be a financier of the group, and another is suspected of being one of Sadr's lieutenants responsible for eastern Baghdad, Kimmitt said.

The general reported progress in Fallujah, the city west of Baghdad that has been the scene of much disorder over the past month. The Iraqi brigade – set up via negotiations – has patrols throughout the city, Kimmitt said. U.S. Marines and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps members are jointly manning traffic control points outside the city. Inside the city, Iraqi police are working with the Fallujah brigade to maintain order. The general said the city has gone four days without a cease-fire violation.

Kimmitt said the relative calm is allowing the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to rebuild Anbar province. "These steps will begin the flow of massive amounts of money that will be required to rapidly restore the quality of life for the citizens of Fallujah and its surrounding communities," Kimmitt said.

In the central-south zone of Iraq, Karbala and Najaf are relatively stable, Kimmitt said, except for sporadic mortar fire directed at the governor's palace. "The majority of citizens of these two cities are responding positively to the presence of coalition forces," he said.

In the southeast zone, Shiias responded to anti-coalition sermons in various mosques and attacked coalition forces at various locales in Basra, the leading city, Kimmitt said. They attacked bases, police stations, government offices and the like. Coalition forces responded. In one case, about 30 men armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns occupied two bridges across the Shall al Arab waterway. Coalition forces cleared the bridges and secured the city. By noon May 8, there were reports of sporadic contacts, but coalition forces maintained control of Basra, Kimmitt said.

Related Sites:
Combined Joint Task Force 7
1st Cavalry Division
1st Marine Expeditionary Force

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Related:

8 U.S. forces storm sheik's stronghold ~ + CJTF-7 releases. ~ Washington Times 
8 Soldier to Face Court-Martial in Iraq ~ AP 
8 Discovery of Weapons Caches; One Stryker Brigade Soldier Died, TF Olympia Soldier Wounded (+)  ~ CJTF-7  

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

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...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.

---------------------------

...Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt: conditions have been "relatively stable." Over the past 24 hours, coalition forces conducted 1,720 patrols, flew 31 Air Force and Navy sorties and captured 25 anti-coalition suspects.

In Baghdad, the 1st Cavalry Division conducted a cordon-and-search operation May 8 (detained Sadr top bad guys)...

The general reported progress in Fallujah...Iraqi brigade  – has patrols throughout the city...U.S. Marines and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps members are jointly manning traffic control points outside the city...Iraqi police are working with the Fallujah brigade to maintain order...the city has gone four days without a cease-fire violation.

....Karbala and Najaf are relatively stable...except for sporadic mortar fire directed at the governor's palace. "The majority of citizens of these two cities are responding positively to the presence of coalition forces.." 

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Good job, troops!

~  ~

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Prayer warriors on duty. Welcome!

[McGavin999]

I wonder if we're going to get to watch. The 19th is Wednesday and my day off so I'm hoping FOX will carry some of it.

[buffyt]

Wasn't he just the photographer???????

[Major_Risktaker]

The defendant should get a medal!

[SpyGuy]

The defendant should get a medal!

As a veteran, I emphatically disagree! I am strongly in favor of relaxing the absurd rules of engagement that have our troops as sitting ducks, unable to fight back with the superior firepower that we have. In fact, I would have leveled Falluja a long time ago.

However, we must always hold our military to the highest standards of conduct. If we allow soldiers to take it upon themselves to abuse enemy prisoners, no matter how seemingly innocuous, then we have sunk to the same level as the vermin who burn and mutilate the bodies of our dead, or who torture our soldiers. We have to set the example for the world. Otherwise, there will be no standard and we will have no voice to condemn such actions by others against our soldiers and citizens.

[Spunky]

"Wasn't he just the photographer???????"

From what I read it was a female who was the photographer. She was a manager of a pizza parlor(or something like that) before inlisting. Her father was a detective and her mother did forensic stuff, so she had seen grusome pictures from the time she was a young child.

This is a different female than the one who had the leash around the prisoners neck. etc.

This is the female who was standing with a male giving thumbs up behind the pyramid of naked prisoners.

There is a thread on this on FreeRepublic today I think.

[prairiebreeze]

This man is around 26 years old. I know they must be punished but DANG! this is not going to be easy to watch.

Prayers for him, his unit and his family.

Prairie

[Turbo Pig]

Well said. Breakdowns in discipline, which is exactly what this was, should be dealt with swiftly, and harshly, or else our forces degrade into yet another rabble. Many people, with soley a civilian background, do not understand this concept.

[saquin]

From what I've read, Sivits was one of the least involved. The harshest sentence he can receive is 1 year in prison. His is a "special" court martial (lesser than a "general" court martial some of the others will face). There's speculation he will plead guilty in a plea bargain and will give evidence about the others who were more involved.

[Ken H]

This was a clear, concise, and informative article.

On the whole, the military press seems to have better writers than the civilian press.

[saquin]

Mechanic first to face trial over prisoner abuse

Specialist Jeremy Sivits, 24, who worked in a McDonald's restaurant before training as a United States army mechanic, is due to be tried in Baghdad a week on Wednesday on relatively minor charges that carry a maximum sentence of a year's detention.

Prosecutors believe that he was a peripheral figure in the abuse at Abu Ghraib jail that prompted outrage throughout the Arab world and sparked a political crisis for President George W Bush. The trial is due to be open to the public and the press. It has still not been decided whether it will be televised.

Charged with mistreating detainees and dereliction of duty, Sivits is understood to have taken many of the photographs that have seriously damaged America's image and threaten to undermine the moral case for the Iraq war.

There was an intense debate among senior coalition officials about which one should be tried first. Some argued that Staff Sgt Ivan "Chip" Frederick II, 37, said to be a ringleader, should face the first court martial. Instead, it was decided that it would be better for Sivits, who is expected to plead guilty as a result of a plea bargain, to be tried.

[prairiebreeze]

Thanks for that link, that's interesting info I hadn't heard.

Prairie

[Major_Risktaker]

I would have leveled Falluja a long time ago.

Well there goes FALLuja...
Leveled as ordered Sir!

Great Idea!

NO MEDIA OUTCRY HERE!

For example, around 100 (untried) prisoners a year are dying in Nairobi Remand Prison in Kenya, largely from preventable, or treatable disease.

In 1994, 274 prisoners were murdered by other prisoners in jails in Venezuela - overcrowding up to 400% in some jails was a contributory factor.

____________________

Otherwise, there will be no standard and we will have no voice to condemn such actions by others against our soldiers and citizens.

Great point in theory!

____________________

One More Thing...
These troops may have been under orders.

Behavioral Modification

[SandRat]

The defendant should get a medal!

As a retired Army Officer I most strongly must disagree with your statement. The SP4 violated every rule and item of training on the treatment of prisoners that every soldier gets and the training every soldier gets every year as mandatory training on the Geneva-Haugue Conventions.

The SP4 deseerves nothing less than what he is about to get.

He is but the warm up for BG Karpinski's court martial we have several lessor courts martials to go through before the main event of her conviction, loss of rank, time at Leavenworth and a significantly less than honorable discharge.

[McGavin999]

According to the article I read tonight, the light brown haired girl (pyramid girl) was the photog.

[oldngray]

He is but the warm up for BG Karpinski's court martial

..but, but, but, I heard she was only going to get a reprimand... some administrative punishment.

Glad to hear that she might be the subject of an Article 32 investigation.

When speaking of incompetence and dereliction of duty, she has to be the prime example.

[SandRat]

..but, but, but, I heard she was only going to get a reprimand... some administrative punishment.

Glad to hear that she might be the subject of an Article 32 investigation.

When speaking of incompetence and dereliction of duty, she has to be the prime example.

Receiving Admin Punishment (Non-Judicial) does not preclude the initiation of an ART. 32 pursuant to a Court Martial. The findings of the Flag Rank ART 15-6 are sufficient to show a disregard for command authority by BG Karpinski. The whispers that I'm hearing are that she'll join Gen Mitchell, Adm Kimmel and Gen Short in the history books as the only Flag rank officers court martialed since 1920.

[Major_Risktaker]

Is this the problem...

OK! your right...However, I would like to know what was the date of these pictures are and who released them? Thanks...

[SandRat]

OK! your right...However, I would like to know what was the date of these pictures are and who released them? Thanks...

Don't we all! Don't we all!

I would also like to know who else in the Senete/House knew of this, when they knew of it, and what they did about it.