Criminal inquiries into possible prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers have triggered a broader internal investigation of the entire chain of command overseeing prisons in Iraq, including a top general, a senior coalition official said last Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, head of the 800th Military Police Brigade, is one of seven in the chain of command facing possible administrative action after a high-level review of how detainees have been treated within the Iraq prison system under U.S. Army control, an official confirmed.
On April 4, an Army review focused on systemic problems and recommended "administrative action against several commanders and military personnel operating detention facilities in Iraq," a coalition official said last Wednesday. The report was done by Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, who led ground forces during the invasion of Iraq.
McKiernan's recommendations are being reviewed by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the coalition's military commander. Sanchez has asked for a follow-up investigation of prisoner interrogation methods, according to a military spokesman.
Reports of possible abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, sparked two separate Army inquiries in January. The coalition overhauled Iraq's prison system last year and supervises an estimated 9,500 detainees, about 1,500 of whom are at Abu Ghraib.
Seventeen service members, including commanders, were suspended from duty late last year upon initial abuse allegations involving about 20 detainees at Abu Ghraib. The Army has declined to release the names of those under investigation.
On Jan. 14, six U.S. soldiers were charged on counts that included conspiracy, dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, assault and indecent acts. Military officials said last Wednesday that a criminal investigation against another individual was pending.
On Jan. 31, the Army quietly began an administrative review of the 10 other servicemen and officers. Wednesday, a coalition official said "the entire chain of command," comprising seven members of the Army, was the focus of that review. The three remaining soldiers are being investigated for possible criminal activity, the official said.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said last Wednesday that the criminal and administrative investigations began because "a soldier came forward" and turned over evidence that included photographs.