January 11, 2008

Abu Ghraib Officer Cleared

The Army has dismissed charges against the only officer court-martialed in the scandal surrounding the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, erasing any criminal responsibility from Lt. Col. Steven Jordan's record. Jordan was convicted in August "of disobeying an order not to discuss the investigation of abuse at the jail" and was issued "a criminal reprimand as penalty," Reuters reports.

Yesterday, the Army reported that commanding officer Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe disapproved of the charges against Jordan. Jordan hasn't been completely excused -- he was still officially found guilty of some of the less-serious charges brought against him at the court-martial -- but he will face only an administrative letter of reprimand and not the dismissal from the Army or five years in prison he could have received.

Jordan ran an interrogation center at the notorious prison, where dramatic photos were taken of U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating inmates. Jordan denied he had any involvement in the abuse, complained that he did not hold any authority over others at the prison and charged the military with making him a scapegoat when the international uproar about the photos hit.

He told AP that both enlisted soldiers and officers at Abu Ghraib were guilty of the abuses and had not been prosecuted, but "everybody that's seen all the evidence and looked at it, or the lack of it, realises that Steve Jordan had nothing to do with abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib."

Eleven other soldiers have been charged and convicted in connection with the prison scandal, and some of them are serving prison time, but all of them were lower-ranking soldiers. The Army has only disciplined two other officers; Jordan was the only one to be court-martialed.

Posted at 8:45 AM
Posted to: Detainees, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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