Marines admit abuse at second prison

[thedrifter]

Marines admit abuse at second prison




By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 22, 2004

While world attention was focused on the scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, two Marines were court-martialed May 14 for abusing an Iraqi prisoner with electricity, it was disclosed yesterday.

Five more Marines have been implicated in the same early April incident at a Marine-run detention facility and might face charges, according to Marine officials in Iraq.

Andrew J. Sting and Jeremiah J. Trefney, both 19 and privates first class assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, N.C., pleaded guilty to charges that included cruelty and maltreatment for shocking an unruly prisoner, according to a Marine statement in response to questions from The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The East Coast-based infantry battalion is attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which has headquarters in San Diego.

The prisoner had been detained at Al Mahmudiya prison.

Sting was sentenced to a year in jail and Trefney received eight months. Both were reduced in rank, will forfeit all pay and will leave the military with a bad conduct discharge.

According to information provided by the 1st MEF, here is what happened:

Sting, Trefney and three other Marines concocted a plan to shock a detainee with 110-volt electricity as he returned to his cell from the bathroom. The prisoner was targeted for punishment because he was loud and had thrown trash out of his cell.

"The Marines attached wires to a power converter and pressed the live wires against the body of the detainee to create a shock," according to the Marine statement.

An investigating officer has recommended court action against two of the three. There was no conclusive word on whether the third was cleared or received some form of administrative punishment.

Two other Marines could also face disciplinary action, the Marines said, although it's not clear what role the Marine Corps believes they played in the case.

About 25,000 Marines are assigned to the 1st MEF, which is responsible for occupying Anbar province. Of that number, roughly 19,000 are from either Camp Pendleton or Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Since March, the Marines have run eight detention centers with a combined population of about 300 prisoners, including common criminals and enemy insurgents.

The Marines said their guards are trained on the proper treatment and handling of enemy prisoners of war and on cultural sensitivity.

In addition, the Marines now in Iraq received a two-week training session on detention practices at March Reserve Air Force Base in Riverside.

The Marines said there are no other prisoner abuse investigations involving the service.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040522-9999-1n22marines1.html


Ellie

[Jarhead1775]

It was bad enough when the army started all this, but to hear
that (EX) Marines were involved is unacceptable.

[Eaglestrikes]

Jarhead1775
The entire Marine Corp is not to blame. Neither is the entire U.S. Army. About six or seven 95 D and one Motor Transport Doggie all of whom suffered from arrested mental development and oversize libidos got through the screening process. What I see that makes me proud is that the Marines caught it, and did something about it. Discipline is more than just mental, but not much. They were undisciplined mentally. We are better off without them. I worry that they will become politicians, they are already practicing how to be deceptive.

[MillRatUSMC]

An interesting point of view, I chose not to post the author name...She a mom of a Marine Officer.

I am NOT condoning what happened to the Iraqi prisoners...however, I think it is vitally important that in my head I have these matters in proper perspective...

* Saddam had Iraqi men, women and children put to death in human meat grinders on a daily basis...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...
*Saddam had people thrown off of 3 - 4 story buildings, while their relatives were forced to watch...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...
* Saddam had people's tongues cut out, limbs chopped of, and even beheaded, while their families were forced to watch...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...
* Saddam's sons, as well as other Administrators and military personnel raped and sodomised Iraqi girls, some as young as 8 years old, on a daily basis...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...
* Saddam's regime indiscriminately put to death millions of Iraqi citizens on a daily basis, during the term of his brutal dictatorship, as evidenced by the mass graves recently uncovered in various parts of Iraq...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...
* Terrorists recently exploded several car bombs in Baghdad, killing 17 innocent Iraqi children and several dozen innocent Iraqi citizens...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...
* Terrorists have been killing American/Coalition soldiers on a daily basis since we sent our troops, many of whom gave their lives on Iraqi soil, used US taxpayer dollars to liberate the Iraqi people...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...
* Four Americans were killed in Fallujah, their bodies were burned, mutilated, drug through the streets and hung on a bridge...while Iraqi people cheered and stoned the bodies...NO OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE OR THE ARAB COMMUNITY...

AND NOW, A FEW IRAQI PRISONERS HAVE BEEN HUMILIATED ......A PAIR OF WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR PUT ON THE PRISONERS HEADS, A FEW NAKED PHOTOGRAPHS...AND THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THE ENTIRE ARAB COMMUNITY GO BALLISTIC...GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

As I said, I DON'T condone what happened to the prisoners. I am shocked and DISGUSTED by it! To think some AMERICANS would lower themselves to the level of so much of the rest of the world is shameful. Unfortunately, the press and much of the rest of the world wants to paint us all with the same brush.

Until the Iraqi's and the Arab Community gets their act together...I wish the
AMERICAN NEWS ELITE would stop being part of the problem and stop using this story to the benefit of the Arab community.

Arabs CUT OFF THE HEAD OF AN AMERICAN AND SHOWED THE WHOLE PROCEDURE ON ARAB TV. COMPARE THAT TO A FEW PICTURES OF HUMILIATED IRAQI PRISONERS. ITS TIME TO HEAR SOME OUTCRY FROM THE IRAQI PEOPLE & COMMUNITY ON IRAQI TV_----- NOW --- OR TELL THEM WE ARE BRINGING OUR AMERICAN TROOPS HOME

I DON'T WANT MY PRESIDENT TO APOLOGISE TO THE ARABS FOR ANYTHING! WE ARE AT WAR!!! DON'T FORGET IT FOR A MINUTE

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND OUR PRESIDENT

Since she wrote that more photos and information have been leaked to the media.
Still we might think that she right, there was or is there an outcry about how Saddam killed and tortured Iraqi's.
Or was there much outcry on the murdering of Nick Berg.

Semper Fidelis/Semper Fi
Ricardo

[MillRatUSMC]

A small correction on my note after here message that I got in E-Mail...

Since she wrote that more photos and information have been leaked to the media.
Still we might think that she right, there wasn't or is there an outcry about how Saddam killed and tortured Iraqi's.
Or was there much outcry on the murdering of Nick Berg.

Semper Fidelis/Semper Fi
Ricardo

[cjwright90]

It is always too bad when something like this blemishes our reputation. Like the few in Okinawa who thought it woulf be a good idea to rape an Okinawan girl. But the Corps does a great job of cleaning that junk out of its ranks, and recovering.

[thedrifter]

May 28, 2004

Two Marines convicted of prisoner abuse
Another pair face courts-martial in electric-shock incident

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer


OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Two infantry Marines were convicted in courts-martial May 14 of abusing an Iraqi prisoner with electrical shocks, Marine Corps officials said May 27.
Two other Marines are set to face military trials in connection with the same early April incident that occurred at a temporary holding facility in Mamudiyah, south of Baghdad.

Pfcs. Andrew J. Sting and Jeremiah J. Trefney, both 19, pleaded guilty at separate courts-martial, according to 1st Lt. Eric Knapp, a 1st Marine Division spokesman in Ramadi. Both are members of the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, currently deployed to Iraq.

Military investigators said the two Marines conspired to punish the detainee for talking loudly and throwing trash out of his cell, a violation of detention center rules. The Marines attached wires to a power converter and pressed the wires against the Iraqi man as he returned to his cell from a trip to the bathroom, jolting him with 110 volts of electricity.

The victim, whom officials would not identify, has since been released from custody.

In general court-martial proceedings at Camp Fallujah, Sting pleaded guilty to assault, cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty and conspiracy to assault the detainee. Military judge Col. Robert S. Chester sentenced Sting, of Wood, Ohio, to one year in prison, reduction in rank to private, forfeiture of all pay and a bad-conduct discharge, Knapp said.

Trefney, of Lebanon, Pa., pleaded guilty in a special court-martial to cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, violating a lawful order and conspiracy to commit assault. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, reduction to private, forfeiture of all pay and a bad-conduct discharge, Knapp said.

Both were in Kuwait as of May 27, awaiting a flight to Camp Lejeune, where they will spend their confinement, Marine officials said.

On May 12, after a separate Article 32 evidentiary hearing on three other Marines’ actions in the same incident, two were charged and the investigating officer recommended they face courts-martial, Knapp said.

Sgt. Matthew K. Travis is facing a general court-martial on several charges, including two counts each of conspiracy to commit cruelty and maltreatment, making a false official statement and assault consummated by a battery.

He is also charged with conspiracy to commit assault, dereliction of duty, attempted cruelty and maltreatment, attempted assault consummated by a battery and disobeying a lawful order, Knapp said.

Pfc. Joshua R. Gabbey is facing a special court-martial on charges of assault, cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty and conspiracy to assault the detainee, he said.

Maj. Gen. James Mattis, 1st Marine Division commander, ordered the general courts-martial for Sting and Travis. The Marines’ battalion commander, Lt. Col. Giles Kyser, ordered the two special courts-martial, which carry lesser maximum punishments than general courts-martial.

Additional information about Travis and Gabbey was not immediately available.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2962388.php


Ellie

[CPLRapoza]

This hurts, I cna't believe my own brothers would do this. They should get the highest punishment possible for what they have done. I wish it was like the old days when they would march down a long road with there peers on each side. After they are stripped of there uniform, rank, and medals awarded(by stripped I'm mean ripped of their body and thrown to the ground) once that is done, the command is given to about face, all his peers execute, and he must walk down shamed and dishonored.

[USMCWifeNMom]

I agree with MillRatUSMC. (good to see you by the way ... we met on Marine Moms Online a couple of years back)

In addition, the Marine abuse occured over a year ago, during the "war" ... it's not front page news worthy. We simply must not allow terorists to succeed in their attempt to divide our nation ... UNITED we stand ... DIVIDED we fall.

Americans are measured by a yardstick no other countries hold unto themselves (esp Arab ones).

God Bless America ... land of the free because of the brave.