Mark Benjamin (Salon): No justice for all

[Jack Rabbit]

From Salon.com
Dated Friday April 14

No justice for all
Army investigators found "probable cause" that a civilian interrogator abused a detainee at Abu Ghraib. Why has the Department of Justice failed to prosecute him -- or any of the other 18 civilians suspected of criminal acts?
By Mark Benjamin

Salon has obtained a previously unpublished 2003 Abu Ghraib photograph that shows Daniel Johnson, a civilian contractor, interrogating an Iraqi prisoner using what an Army investigation calls "an unauthorized stress position."

The Army investigated the circumstances behind the photograph, found "probable cause" that a crime had been committed, and referred the case to the Justice Department for prosecution. (Salon obtained the photo from someone who spent time at Abu Ghraib as a uniformed member of the military and is familiar with the Army investigation there.) But in early 2005, a Department of Justice attorney told the Army that the evidence in the case did not justify prosecution.

This failure to act by the Justice Department, which has sole jurisdiction over crimes committed by civilian contractors in Iraq, has prompted a Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and human-rights organizations to question the seriousness with which the Bush administration is pursuing prisoner-abuse cases. At his January 2005 confirmation hearing, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declared, "Abuse will not be tolerated by this administration. If confirmed, I will ensure that the Department of Justice aggressively pursues those responsible for such abhorrent actions."

Two soldiers -- who served as military policemen at Abu Ghraib and had already been sentenced and imprisoned for their mistreatment of detainees -- told Army investigators that Johnson had directed and participated in prisoner abuse. Johnson's role is highlighted in transcripts, obtained by Salon, of Army interviews with Pvt. Ivan Frederick II and Pvt. Charles Graner.

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