Aust soldiers knew of Iraq prison abuses

Last Update: Thursday, August 18, 2005. 6:03pm (AEST)


Australian officers were aware of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners but did not pass their knowledge up the chain of command, a Senate inquiry has found.
The inquiry was held after reports emerged about the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners last year.
It raised questions about how much Australians knew and when that information was passed on to senior Defence Force officers and Federal Government ministers.

The inquiry found shortcomings in the reporting processes in the Defence Department, with some Australians having been involved in questioning detainees and at least two officers aware of concerns surrounding the mistreatment of prisoners.

Labor Senator John Faulkner says the Government has tried to cover up the truth.

"There are still many unanswered questions and we intend to pursue these issues relentlessly," Senator Faulkner said.

The committee also raised concerns about pressure from the US and British Governments on the Iraq Survey Group to lie about the absence of weapons of mass destruction.

Rod Barton quit his job as a weapons inspector and the committee found he raised his concerns with Australian officials about the mistreatment of detainees and interrogation of prisoners but there was no follow-up by Defence.

Mr Barton also charged there was political interference to distort the findings of the Iraq Survey Group looking for weapons of mass destruction.

There was not sufficiently strong evidence to suggest that was the case but the Committee is concerned the allegations were not investigated.

Link Here