US army files detail prison abuse cases

In another case, US troops in Afghanistan posed for photos of mock executions with hooded and bound prisoners, but other pictures depicting abuse were destroyed to avert another public embarrassment after the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal surfaced in April 2004, the files stated.

Several Army Criminal Investigation Command files released by the American Civil Liberties Union detailed previously unknown detainee abuse allegations. The documents were obtained from the government under court order through the Freedom of Information Act.

"These documents provide more evidence that abuse was not localised or aberrational, but was widespread and systemic. They also provide further evidence that at least in some cases the government is not aggressively investigating credible allegations of abuse," ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer said.

"Simply put, we are accountable. We will take action and investigate when it (abuse) is reported. We take it seriously. And we'll bring those soldiers to justice who may have committed an offense," said Army spokesman Col. Joe Curtin.

An Iraqi taken into US custody in Tikrit when his house was raided in September 2003 said Americans, some in civilian clothing, beat him repeatedly, one file showed.

He stated Americans struck him in the head with a rifle, beat him in the stomach, smacked his leg with a baseball bat, dislocated his arms, stepped on his nose and broke it, shoved an unloaded pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger, and choked him with a rope.

While abusing him, the man stated, a US interrogator demanded he confess to crimes and told him, "Today will be the last day in your life."

The file included medical reports confirming he suffered a broken nose, broken leg and abdominal scars. US soldiers questioned in the case said personnel from Task Force 20, a combined CIA-military unit hunting "high-value" fugitives, had interrogated him.