Judge also orders Abu Ghraib preserved
BAGHDAD A military judge on Monday ordered the American government to allow lawyers representing two defendants in the Abu Ghraib prison torture case to question the top American commanders overseeing Iraq.
.
The lawyers said they planned to show that the most senior officials in the government had given tacit approval for the use of extreme interrogation methods that violated the Geneva conventions. The judge, Colonel James Pohl of the 5th Judicial Circuit in Germany, also ordered the government to take all steps possible to preserve Abu Ghraib prison, 25 kilometers, or 15 miles, west of Baghdad, because it is a crime scene.
.
The judge's demand directly contradicted an earlier offer by President George W. Bush to raze the prison. It came after a civilian defense lawyer said here that he wanted members of the court to be able to smell the fecal matter and the urine that service members who worked inside the prison and who are accused in this case had to live with.
.
The Iraqi government has also said it wants to preserve the prison, arguing that its destruction would be a waste of a building.
.
Pohl's orders came during pretrial motion hearings for Specialist Charles Graner Jr., considered to be a ringleader of the seven military police officers directly involved in the prison scandal, and Sergeant Javal Davis.
.
A third scheduled hearing with another defendant considered to be the group's leader, Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick 3rd, did not proceed because the civilian lawyer for Frederick failed to show up, citing the extreme dangers here.
.
The three defendants, dressed in their tan desert uniforms, sat quietly the entire day in a makeshift courtroom inside the convention center of the fortified American headquarters.
.
The hearings gave the clearest indication so far of the ambitious argument the defense lawyers plan to make during the trial: that the most senior officials in the White House and Pentagon and the top generals in Iraq created an atmosphere that encouraged the flouting of the conventions of war in interrogating detainees.
.
"I feel that all seven MPs are being made scapegoats," Guy Womack, the civilian lawyer for Graner, told reporters after his client's hearing. "No one can suggest with a straight face that these MPs were acting alone."
.
Womack said the military police officers were following instructions from the military intelligence officers who effectively ran the prison. But the ultimate responsibility, he said, lay with Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who both indicated after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that the Geneva conventions regarding treatment of prisoners did not apply to the war on terror.
.
Because of the war on terrorism, the highest levels of government authorized an unusual proceeding, Womack said. In this atmosphere, he added, officials lessened the normal restraints on interrogations.
.
Womack said he had evidence that a senior male army officer was present during several of the interrogation sessions captured in the infamous photographs whose release on the CBS program "60 Minutes II" in April started the prison scandal.
.
The officer tried to hide the fact that the interrogations were taking place from other soldiers and officers, Womack said. He declined to name the officer name but said his identity would emerge during the legal process.
.
Womack also asked the judge to order the government to release several memos written at the top levels of the Bush administration that showed officials trying to stretch the allowable limits for interrogating prisoners. Recent news reports have said the memos - including one by the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, that called the Geneva conventions quaint- were written to advise Bush that international laws concerning torture did not apply to unlawful combatants captured during the war on terror.
.
Pohl denied the motion, saying that discussions taking place in Washington did not appear relevant to the actions or state of mind of the defendants.
.
The judge also denied a similar request by Paul Bergrin, a civilian lawyer for Sergeant Davis, who said L. Paul Bremer III, the top American administrator in Iraq, had written a memo asking for a definition of interrogation methods that applied to detainees in Iraq.
.
Rumsfeld and his top aide for intelligence policy, Stephen Cambone, had also written memos asking for the same thing, Bergrin added. Pohl did say the American government had to make available for interviews all the top commanders involved in the Iraq war.
.
Private First Class Lynndie England, who faces a military hearing to decide whether she should stand trial, has said she was obeying superiors when she was photographed in gleeful poses with humiliated prisoners.
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< < Back to Start of Article Judge also orders Abu Ghraib preserved
BAGHDAD A military judge on Monday ordered the American government to allow lawyers representing two defendants in the Abu Ghraib prison torture case to question the top American commanders overseeing Iraq.
.
The lawyers said they planned to show that the most senior officials in the government had given tacit approval for the use of extreme interrogation methods that violated the Geneva conventions. The judge, Colonel James Pohl of the 5th Judicial Circuit in Germany, also ordered the government to take all steps possible to preserve Abu Ghraib prison, 25 kilometers, or 15 miles, west of Baghdad, because it is a crime scene.
.
The judge's demand directly contradicted an earlier offer by President George W. Bush to raze the prison. It came after a civilian defense lawyer said here that he wanted members of the court to be able to smell the fecal matter and the urine that service members who worked inside the prison and who are accused in this case had to live with.
.
The Iraqi government has also said it wants to preserve the prison, arguing that its destruction would be a waste of a building.
.
Pohl's orders came during pretrial motion hearings for Specialist Charles Graner Jr., considered to be a ringleader of the seven military police officers directly involved in the prison scandal, and Sergeant Javal Davis.
.
A third scheduled hearing with another defendant considered to be the group's leader, Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick 3rd, did not proceed because the civilian lawyer for Frederick failed to show up, citing the extreme dangers here.
.
The three defendants, dressed in their tan desert uniforms, sat quietly the entire day in a makeshift courtroom inside the convention center of the fortified American headquarters.
.
The hearings gave the clearest indication so far of the ambitious argument the defense lawyers plan to make during the trial: that the most senior officials in the White House and Pentagon and the top generals in Iraq created an atmosphere that encouraged the flouting of the conventions of war in interrogating detainees.
.
"I feel that all seven MPs are being made scapegoats," Guy Womack, the civilian lawyer for Graner, told reporters after his client's hearing. "No one can suggest with a straight face that these MPs were acting alone."
.
Womack said the military police officers were following instructions from the military intelligence officers who effectively ran the prison. But the ultimate responsibility, he said, lay with Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who both indicated after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that the Geneva conventions regarding treatment of prisoners did not apply to the war on terror.
.
Because of the war on terrorism, the highest levels of government authorized an unusual proceeding, Womack said. In this atmosphere, he added, officials lessened the normal restraints on interrogations.
.
Womack said he had evidence that a senior male army officer was present during several of the interrogation sessions captured in the infamous photographs whose release on the CBS program "60 Minutes II" in April started the prison scandal.
.
The officer tried to hide the fact that the interrogations were taking place from other soldiers and officers, Womack said. He declined to name the officer name but said his identity would emerge during the legal process.
.
Womack also asked the judge to order the government to release several memos written at the top levels of the Bush administration that showed officials trying to stretch the allowable limits for interrogating prisoners. Recent news reports have said the memos - including one by the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, that called the Geneva conventions quaint- were written to advise Bush that international laws concerning torture did not apply to unlawful combatants captured during the war on terror.
.
Pohl denied the motion, saying that discussions taking place in Washington did not appear relevant to the actions or state of mind of the defendants.
.
The judge also denied a similar request by Paul Bergrin, a civilian lawyer for Sergeant Davis, who said L. Paul Bremer III, the top American administrator in Iraq, had written a memo asking for a definition of interrogation methods that applied to detainees in Iraq.
.
Rumsfeld and his top aide for intelligence policy, Stephen Cambone, had also written memos asking for the same thing, Bergrin added. Pohl did say the American government had to make available for interviews all the top commanders involved in the Iraq war.
.
Private First Class Lynndie England, who faces a military hearing to decide whether she should stand trial, has said she was obeying superiors when she was photographed in gleeful poses with humiliated prisoners. Judge also orders Abu Ghraib preserved
BAGHDAD A military judge on Monday ordered the American government to allow lawyers representing two defendants in the Abu Ghraib prison torture case to question the top American commanders overseeing Iraq.
.
The lawyers said they planned to show that the most senior officials in the government had given tacit approval for the use of extreme interrogation methods that violated the Geneva conventions. The judge, Colonel James Pohl of the 5th Judicial Circuit in Germany, also ordered the government to take all steps possible to preserve Abu Ghraib prison, 25 kilometers, or 15 miles, west of Baghdad, because it is a crime scene.
.
The judge's demand directly contradicted an earlier offer by President George W. Bush to raze the prison. It came after a civilian defense lawyer said here that he wanted members of the court to be able to smell the fecal matter and the urine that service members who worked inside the prison and who are accused in this case had to live with.
.
The Iraqi government has also said it wants to preserve the prison, arguing that its destruction would be a waste of a building.
.
Pohl's orders came during pretrial motion hearings for Specialist Charles Graner Jr., considered to be a ringleader of the seven military police officers directly involved in the prison scandal, and Sergeant Javal Davis.
.
A third scheduled hearing with another defendant considered to be the group's leader, Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick 3rd, did not proceed because the civilian lawyer for Frederick failed to show up, citing the extreme dangers here.
.
The three defendants, dressed in their tan desert uniforms, sat quietly the entire day in a makeshift courtroom inside the convention center of the fortified American headquarters.
.
The hearings gave the clearest indication so far of the ambitious argument the defense lawyers plan to make during the trial: that the most senior officials in the White House and Pentagon and the top generals in Iraq created an atmosphere that encouraged the flouting of the conventions of war in interrogating detainees.
.
"I feel that all seven MPs are being made scapegoats," Guy Womack, the civilian lawyer for Graner, told reporters after his client's hearing. "No one can suggest with a straight face that these MPs were acting alone."
.
Womack said the military police officers were following instructions from the military intelligence officers who effectively ran the prison. But the ultimate responsibility, he said, lay with Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who both indicated after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that the Geneva conventions regarding treatment of prisoners did not apply to the war on terror.
.
Because of the war on terrorism, the highest levels of government authorized an unusual proceeding, Womack said. In this atmosphere, he added, officials lessened the normal restraints on interrogations.
.
Womack said he had evidence that a senior male army officer was present during several of the interrogation sessions captured in the infamous photographs whose release on the CBS program "60 Minutes II" in April started the prison scandal.
.
The officer tried to hide the fact that the interrogations were taking place from other soldiers and officers, Womack said. He declined to name the officer name but said his identity would emerge during the legal process.
.
Womack also asked the judge to order the government to release several memos written at the top levels of the Bush administration that showed officials trying to stretch the allowable limits for interrogating prisoners. Recent news reports have said the memos - including one by the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, that called the Geneva conventions quaint- were written to advise Bush that international laws concerning torture did not apply to unlawful combatants captured during the war on terror.
.
Pohl denied the motion, saying that discussions taking place in Washington did not appear relevant to the actions or state of mind of the defendants.
.
The judge also denied a similar request by Paul Bergrin, a civilian lawyer for Sergeant Davis, who said L. Paul Bremer III, the top American administrator in Iraq, had written a memo asking for a definition of interrogation methods that applied to detainees in Iraq.
.
Rumsfeld and his top aide for intelligence policy, Stephen Cambone, had also written memos asking for the same thing, Bergrin added. Pohl did say the American government had to make available for interviews all the top commanders involved in the Iraq war.
.
Private First Class Lynndie England, who faces a military hearing to decide whether she should stand trial, has said she was obeying superiors when she was photographed in gleeful poses with humiliated prisoners. Judge also orders Abu Ghraib preserved
BAGHDAD A military judge on Monday ordered the American government to allow lawyers representing two defendants in the Abu Ghraib prison torture case to question the top American commanders overseeing Iraq.
.
The lawyers said they planned to show that the most senior officials in the government had given tacit approval for the use of extreme interrogation methods that violated the Geneva conventions. The judge, Colonel James Pohl of the 5th Judicial Circuit in Germany, also ordered the government to take all steps possible to preserve Abu Ghraib prison, 25 kilometers, or 15 miles, west of Baghdad, because it is a crime scene.
.
The judge's demand directly contradicted an earlier offer by President George W. Bush to raze the prison. It came after a civilian defense lawyer said here that he wanted members of the court to be able to smell the fecal matter and the urine that service members who worked inside the prison and who are accused in this case had to live with.
.
The Iraqi government has also said it wants to preserve the prison, arguing that its destruction would be a waste of a building.
.
Pohl's orders came during pretrial motion hearings for Specialist Charles Graner Jr., considered to be a ringleader of the seven military police officers directly involved in the prison scandal, and Sergeant Javal Davis.
.
A third scheduled hearing with another defendant considered to be the group's leader, Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick 3rd, did not proceed because the civilian lawyer for Frederick failed to show up, citing the extreme dangers here.
.
The three defendants, dressed in their tan desert uniforms, sat quietly the entire day in a makeshift courtroom inside the convention center of the fortified American headquarters.
.
The hearings gave the clearest indication so far of the ambitious argument the defense lawyers plan to make during the trial: that the most senior officials in the White House and Pentagon and the top generals in Iraq created an atmosphere that encouraged the flouting of the conventions of war in interrogating detainees.
.
"I feel that all seven MPs are being made scapegoats," Guy Womack, the civilian lawyer for Graner, told reporters after his client's hearing. "No one can suggest with a straight face that these MPs were acting alone."
.
Womack said the military police officers were following instructions from the military intelligence officers who effectively ran the prison. But the ultimate responsibility, he said, lay with Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who both indicated after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that the Geneva conventions regarding treatment of prisoners did not apply to the war on terror.
.
Because of the war on terrorism, the highest levels of government authorized an unusual proceeding, Womack said. In this atmosphere, he added, officials lessened the normal restraints on interrogations.
.
Womack said he had evidence that a senior male army officer was present during several of the interrogation sessions captured in the infamous photographs whose release on the CBS program "60 Minutes II" in April started the prison scandal.
.
The officer tried to hide the fact that the interrogations were taking place from other soldiers and officers, Womack said. He declined to name the officer name but said his identity would emerge during the legal process.
.
Womack also asked the judge to order the government to release several memos written at the top levels of the Bush administration that showed officials trying to stretch the allowable limits for interrogating prisoners. Recent news reports have said the memos - including one by the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, that called the Geneva conventions quaint- were written to advise Bush that international laws concerning torture did not apply to unlawful combatants captured during the war on terror.
.
Pohl denied the motion, saying that discussions taking place in Washington did not appear relevant to the actions or state of mind of the defendants.
.
The judge also denied a similar request by Paul Bergrin, a civilian lawyer for Sergeant Davis, who said L. Paul Bremer III, the top American administrator in Iraq, had written a memo asking for a definition of interrogation methods that applied to detainees in Iraq.
.
Rumsfeld and his top aide for intelligence policy, Stephen Cambone, had also written memos asking for the same thing, Bergrin added. Pohl did say the American government had to make available for interviews all the top commanders involved in the Iraq war.
.
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