Full extent of Abu Ghraib detainee abuse revealed

February 17, 2006 The online magazine, Salon.com claims to have received a DVD containing what may be all of the material from an Army investigation into the infamous Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

According to Salon's report, the DVD includes an investigative report by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID). In a report by Special Agent James E. Seigmund, the summary of the content includes, "a total of 1,325 images of suspected detainee abuse, 93 video files of suspected detainee abuse, 660 images of adult pornography, 546 images of suspected dead Iraqi detainees, 29 images of soldiers in simulated sexual acts, 20 images of a soldier with a Swastika drawn between his eyes, 37 images of Military Working dogs being used in abuse of detainees and 125 images of questionable acts."

Salon claims their source is a uniformed officer who spent time at Abu Ghraib and is familiar with the CID investigation. The DVD of material is described as all from a period of October 18, 2003 to December 30,2003.

In reporting on Salon's scoop, the Guardian reported that a Pentagon spokesman said recent reports, "could only further inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence in the world". Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Prime Minister of Iraq condemned the abuse, whilst pointing out that members of US Forces had already been punished for it.

Whilst the Salon report concedes that prosecutions related to the abuse continue, it notes that none of the CIA interrogators who were said to operate at the prison have been prosecuted and no high-ranking officer or official has yet been charged in relation to the abuse.