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Intelligence officer faces charges from abu ghraib { September 11 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=581331§ion=newshttp://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=581331§ion=news
U.S. intelligence soldier faces Abu Ghraib trial
Sat September 11, 2004 01:16 AM ET
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The first military intelligence soldier to be charged in connection with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib will face a court martial in Baghdad today and is widely expected to plead guilty as part of a plea bargain.
Specialist Armin Cruz, a military intelligence analyst, is charged with maltreatment and conspiracy to maltreat detainees. He is the eighth person to be indicted in the abuse affair, which provoked worldwide condemnation when it broke in April.
The Pentagon has said the abuse was the work of a few bad military police acting on their own accord.
Barring a courtroom surprise, Cruz is not expected to touch on the key issue of whether intelligence officers ordered military police to "soften up" prisoners ahead of interrogation, as some have suggested -- a link that might indicate the higher chain of command knew about or even sanctioned the abuse.
Instead, his lawyer has said Cruz takes full responsibility for his own actions.
"While his actions which bring him before the court were limited, he takes full responsibility, and in doing so accepts whatever punishment the court deems appropriate for his role in the incident," lawyer Stephen Karns said in a statement.
"He is extremely remorseful and has great sympathy for those who have suffered abuse in the prison."
In a report into the abuse by U.S. Army Major General George Fay issued last month, Cruz is identified as having taken part in the mistreatment of three prisoners at the jail and he has also been mentioned in testimony in another Abu Ghraib case.
A photograph taken in October 2003 shows Cruz and two other intelligence soldiers standing in the background as three prisoners are abused by military police in the foreground.
PURPLE HEART
Cruz, a reservist from Texas, was assigned to the 325th Military Intelligence Battalion in Iraq. As an analyst he was not supposed to be involved in interrogations, but, like other analysts, was often drafted in to help with questioning.
In sworn testimony presented in another Abu Ghraib case, Sergeant Samuel Provance, another intelligence soldier, said Cruz "was known to bang on the table, yell, scream, and maybe assaulted detainees during interrogations in the booth".
Cruz's commanding officer in the 325th Military Intelligence Battalion, Major Tom Barbeau, has described Cruz as a "very good soldier" and others have suggested that his biggest fault may have been not reporting what he saw at Abu Ghraib.
Cruz was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded in a mortar attack on the prison in September last year and his lawyer has said he was also awarded a Bronze Star.
In his report, General Fay said Cruz joined in the prisoner abuse with two military policemen, Sergeant Ivan Frederick and Corporal Charles Graner.
"All three made the detainees act as though they were having sex," the report said.
Frederick and Graner are two of the seven military police soldiers so far charged in the scandal and facing court martial.
The first to be tried, Private Jeremy Sivits, pleaded guilty at a special court martial held in Baghdad in May and was sentenced to a year in prison and other penalties.
Cruz also faces a special court martial, rather than a general court martial, a lesser procedure usually presided over by a single military judge rather than a jury panel.
Under a special court martial, the maximum punishment is 12 months confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of pay for a year, reduction to the lowest pay grade, and a bad-conduct discharge.
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