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Abu Ghraib dog handler guilty of prisoner abuse

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 March 2006, 13:30 CST

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army dog handler was found guilty on Tuesday of abusing detainees at Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison and faces up to eight years and nine months in prison, an Army spokeswoman said.

The sentencing hearing for Army Sgt. Michael Smith, 24, was set to begin later in the day, Lt. Col. Shawn Jirik said.

Smith was charged with using his dog to harass and threaten inmates at Abu Ghraib in order to make them urinate and defecate on themselves in 2003 and 2004.

Disturbing photos of inmates being intimidated by dogs and sexually humiliated were broadcast around the world after the abuses became public in 2004, undermining Washington's efforts to win support for its war in Iraq.

Several of these photos were introduced as evidence in Smith's trial.

Smith's lawyers maintained that he was unfairly lumped in with others on the night shift who physically abused detainees or allowed their dogs to bite them, and was acting at the request of interrogators and prison authorities.

Other soldiers who worked alongside Smith have already been sentenced for up to 10 years for abusing inmates.

Smith was found guilty of maltreating one adult and two juvenile detainees. He was also found guilty of conspiracy, dereliction of duty and assault.

He was found not guilty of three more maltreatment charges, one conspiracy charge, and four charges of aggravated assault.

Smith was also found guilty of indecent acts for having his dog lick peanut butter off a male soldier's genitals and a female soldier's breasts.

A Pentagon spokesman said the verdict proved that the military is holding lawbreakers accountable.

"As we've seen over the past many months, these individual cases (are) coming to trial and being disposed of in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

One human rights activist who observed the trial said higher-ranking officials are not being held accountable.

"There was more than enough blame to go around," said Avi Cover, a lawyer with the New York-based activist group Human Rights First. "I think we need to look all the way up the chain of command."

Smith's trial featured testimony from the former top military intelligence officer at the prison, Army Col. Thomas Pappas, who was reprimanded and fined in part for authorizing the use of dogs for interrogation without approval.

Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who helped shape detention practices at Abu Ghraib, invoked his right to not incriminate himself earlier this year.

(Additional reporting by Will Dunham)

Source: REUTERS

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