Officer fails to report illegalities
By Marian WilkinsonMay 31, 2005

An Australian military officer in Iraq who failed to report evidence that US troops were violating the Geneva Conventions by hiding top-level Iraqi prisoners from the Red Cross has not been disciplined by his Australian commanders, according to the head of the Defence Force, General Peter Cosgrove.

At a tense Senate hearing last night, both General Cosgrove and the Defence Minister, Robert Hill, were repeatedly asked about a confidential report written by the officer and handed to the US embassy last year. The report described how the Australian officer, on secondment to a US unit, became aware that US forces were keeping "ghost detainees" for interrogation in Iraq.

The illegal practice was carried out in Iraq by US special forces and the Central Intelligence Agency and is under investigation in Washington. Up to 100 prisoners are suspected of being held as ghost detainees which led to cases of abuse and the death of at least one prisoner.

General Cosgrove, admitting the practice was improper, became agitated when pressed by Senator John Faulkner over whether the officer had been disciplined for not reporting its to his Australian commanders.

"I am not going to canvass, senator, what considerations might have been taken," said General Cosgrove. "The fact for you is that no disciplinary action was undertaken".

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Officer-fails-to-report-illegalities/2005/05/31/1117305565466.html