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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (34396)	1/7/2004 8:25:01 AM
From: lurqer	Respond to of 89467

This is an interesting article to peruse. Massive numbers of people are "swept up" in Iron Hammer. Can the CPA admit that some of them were innocent, and apologize? Not likely. Instead, even while releasing them, they will continue to insult - thus making as many enemies as possible. Note the discrepancy between how the CPA describes the "detainees", and how the Iraqis describe them. U.S.-led administration in Iraq releasing 500 prisoners in conciliatory gesture U.S. authorities in Iraq will release 506 low-level Iraqi prisoners while increasing the bounties for fugitives suspected of major roles in attacks against coalition forces, the top American civilian official in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, said Wednesday. The prisoners to be released have not been involved in attacks on American forces, aren't suspected of torture or other atrocities under the regime of Saddam Hussein and must have a community or tribal leader act as a sponsor before they can return home, Bremer said. "I want to assure you that this is not a program for those with bloodstained hands," he said. "Nor will we release people accused of torture or crimes against humanity." Coalition officials said the releases -- out of some 12,800 prisoners -- are also aimed at encouraging Iraqis to provide intelligence tips to the U.S. authorities. Most of those who will be released are suspected low-level "associates" of insurgents who have not been directly involved in attacks, coalition officials said on condition of anonymity. The release of Iraqis held indefinitely and without charge has been a top demand of community and tribal leaders, as well as human rights advocates. "All they do is put a bag on their heads, bind their hands behind them with plastic handcuffs and take them away. Families don't know where they go," Malek Dohan al-Hassan, head of the Lawyers Syndicate in Baghdad, said last month. "They violate human rights up to their ears." Bremer said U.S. authorities are working on ways to grant people access to family members who are being held prisoner. Iraq's Governing Council took credit for the releases. "We demanded the coalition authority look into the issue of those detained and arrested," said Adnan Pachachi, the chairman of the U.S.-appointed council. One military official described the typical prisoner to be freed as a person swept up in a raid that also captured "more dangerous" people or weapons. Before they are freed, the prisoners must sign a statement renouncing violence and have a community or tribal leader act as a "guarantor" for their conduct, Bremer said. "They made a mistake and they know it. But we are prepared to offer some of them a new chance," Bremer said. "It is time for reconciliation, time for Iraqis to make common cause in building the new Iraq." The first release will be Thursday, when about 100 prisoners will be freed from Abu Ghraib, a notorious prison under Saddam's regime. Further releases will take place in coming weeks from camps across Iraq, officials said. The 506 prisoners to be freed represent about 4 percent of the 12,800 prisoners in U.S. custody -- which includes almost 4,000 members of an anti-Iran rebel group. It's not known how many detainees have been held in U.S. custody. The military announces dozens of arrests daily, but many are released within hours or days. On Monday, the U.S. Army discharged three soldiers found guilty of beating prisoners at a detention center in Iraq, a spokesman announced after a nonjudicial hearing in Kuwait. Coalition officials said those to be freed were selected in 10 days of deliberations from an initial list of several thousand detainees. A three-member coalition board narrowed the list. At the same time, the officials said the U.S. military will intensify its hunt for hard-line guerrillas, offering bounties for information leading to the capture or killing of 30 Iraqis accused in the insurgency. The reward announcement broadens the practice of offering bounties for fugitives. Of the original 55 most wanted Iraqis whose pictures appeared on a deck of cards, 13 remain at large. Twelve of those have rewards of $1 million for their capture -- or for confirmation that they are dead, Bremer said. The U.S. military has also put a $10 million bounty for Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, vice chairman of Saddam's revolutionary council. He became the most-wanted fugitive after Saddam's Dec. 13 capture. Fifteen of the fugitives command bounties of $200,000 each; rewards for the remaining 15 are $50,000 apiece. One of the military officials suggested the additional goodwill generated by the prisoner release would translate into intelligence tips that would make quicker work of disrupting guerrilla cells. "Why sit around and wait for this to come to us? Why not accelerate the process?" he asked. sfgate.com JMO lurqer