http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/12/15/aclu.pentagon/Offenders have been punished, Pentagon says
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The abuse of naked Iraqi prisoners received the bulk of publicity, but those incidents were just some of many clandestine occurrences in which detainees endured shock, burns and mock executions, newly released Pentagon records reveal.
In response to a Freedom of Information request from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Defense Department turned over documents that detail torture U.S. Marines inflicted on Iraqis during interrogations.
A Defense Department spokesman said military justice officials were not trying to keep the cases secret, but to quickly investigate the charges.
The Reuters news agency reported that one file contains specifics about 10 "substantiated" acts of abuse that involved 24 Marines and date back to May 2003. Thirteen of the Marines, after their convictions, received prison sentences up to 15 months.
The ACLU has posted many of the documents on its Web site. ACLU staff attorney Amrit Singh said the specifics about the abuse indicate the misdeeds "did not appear to come from a few bad apples."
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