IRAQ: The first US soldier convicted in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal testified yesterday that Pfc Lynndie England, the soldier photographed holding an Iraqi on a leash, stomped on prisoners' fingers and toes.
Pvt Jeremy Sivits testified at the resumption of a military court hearing for England, the pregnant 21-year-old soldier who became the public face of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, a scandal that shocked the Arab world and rattled US efforts to stabilize Iraq last spring.
England, one of seven military police officers charged, faces 19 counts of assault, conspiracy to mistreat prisoners, committing indecent acts, disobeying orders and possessing sexually explicit material. She could face up to 38 years in prison if convicted.
The hearing, held at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is a preliminary phase of military court proceedings and will help determine if she should face trial. Twenty-five witnesses testified from August 3rd-7th before the hearing was halted.
Testifying by phone from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sivits told the court that he saw England standing behind a group of prisoners on the floor when he entered the Abu Ghraib cellblock on November 8th, 2003.
Sivits encountered England, Staff Sgt "Chip" Frederick, Spc Charles Graner and others with a group of detainees who had supposedly tried to start a riot.
"They were stomping on the fingers and toes of the detainees," Sivits said, referring to England and Graner.
England, wearing a maternity camouflage uniform, listened to the testimony in the Fort Bragg courtroom. Her lawyers have tried to show she was following orders when she was photographed with humiliated prisoners. In one photo she holds an Iraqi detainee on a leash and in another she points at the genitals of a hooded, naked man.
Last week, a panel headed by former Defence Secretary James Schlesinger issued a report accusing the US military chain of command from Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on down of leadership failures that created conditions for the abuse.
According to Sivits, a non-commissioned officer who was present told the MPs to "knock it off," but after the NCO left, abuse continued. Sivits said Graner ordered the detainees to strip.
Before he left the prison that night, Sivits was told by Graner "that he didn't see" anything, a statement that Sivits said he took as an order. In May, Sivits admitted he sexually humiliated prisoners.