FORT MEADE, Md. — A preliminary hearing for two Army dog handlers accused of abusing Iraqi detainees ended Wednesday with the former warden of the Abu Ghraib prison testifying about a recommendation from the commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison on the use of military dogs for interrogation. Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller talked about the effectiveness of the dogs at a September 2003 meeting attended by Maj. David Dinenna, who testified Wednesday.
Defense attorneys contended their clients, Sgt. Santos A. Cardona and Sgt. Michael J. Smith, were only following orders and that the charges should be dropped.
The government asked that a court martial be held to try the defendants on the criminal charges.
Dinenna was the only witness presented by defense attorneys before the Article 32 hearing, which began Tuesday, ended at Fort Meade, about 15 miles south of Baltimore. Dinenna was in charge of prison operations when the alleged abuses by Cardona and Smith occurred.
The investigating officer, Maj. Glenn Simpkins, will take up to two weeks to consider the evidence and make a recommendation as to whether any charges should be dropped, and how any remaining charges should be dealt with.
Witnesses testified Tuesday that military dogs bit at least two detainees at the prison in Iraq, one severely enough to require stitches.
The unmuzzled dogs also were used to terrify inmates at the direction of Col. Thomas M. Pappas, the highest-ranking military intelligence officer at the prison, and Steven Stefanowicz, a civilian contractor who directed interrogations, witnesses said.
A defense lawyer told reporters the approval went even higher as the Army tried to expand to the sprawling prison in Iraq some of the interrogation and intimidation techniques that human-rights advocates have criticized at Guantanamo Bay.
“They were trying to Gitmo-ize Abu Ghraib,” said Harvey J. Volzer, civilian attorney for Cardona, 31, of Fullerton, Calif.
Prosecutors sought to portray the dog handlers, who are military policemen, as rogue soldiers who held contests to see whether their canines could frighten prisoners into urinating or defecating on themselves. No witnesses reported seeing such an event.
Cardona and Smith, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., are charged with cruelty and maltreatment, conspiracy to maltreat detainees, aggravated assault, dereliction of duty and making false official statements. Cardona faces a maximum penalty of 16½ years in prison if convicted on all nine counts against him. Smith, who also is charged with committing an indecent act, could be imprisoned for 29½ years if convicted of all 14 counts he faces.
The hearing was held at Fort Meade because it has a larger courtroom than either Fort Bragg, N.C., headquarters for Cardona’s unit, the 42nd Military Police Detachment, or Fort Riley, Kan., where Smith’s unit, the 523rd Military Police Detachment, is based, said Maj. Bobbie J.W. Davis, deputy staff judge advocate at Fort Meade.
She said that if a trial is ordered, it likely would be held at Fort Meade as well.
The abuses are alleged to have occurred during a particularly stressful time at the prison, from mid-December 2003 to early January 2004. Guards were on edge after a detainee somehow acquired and fired a gun around Thanksgiving, and interrogators were under pressure to get information from three prisoners captured along with Saddam Hussein in mid-December, witnesses said.
The government’s star witness Tuesday was Pvt. Ivan L. “Chip” Frederick II, now serving an eight-year sentence at a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for his role in the Abu Ghraib scandal. The Army reservist testified for about 90 minutes by telephone.
He said Cardona’s dog bit detainee Ballendia Sadawi Mohammed in a bloody incident that started as a cell search. The barking dogs frightened the inmate so much that he ran to Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr., a guard and central figure in the Abu Ghraib scandal who was sentenced in January to 10 years behind bars.
As the inmate flailed at Graner with open hands, Cardona released his dog, which bit the detainee on the left thigh, Frederick said.
The inmate then ran toward a locked exit gate and Cardona again released the dog, which bit the man on the right thigh, Frederick said.
Another eyewitness, Pvt. Sabrina Harman, said she stitched the wound on the right leg — 12 stitches, according to the inmate’s statement to investigators.
“It seemed like a lot of blood,” Harman testified.
Harman said she then posed for a thumbs-up photograph, shot by Graner, that is among the prosecution exhibits. She is serving a six-month sentence for her role in the Abu Ghraib scandal.
Frederick also testified that Smith’s dog bit an inmate on one of his wrists, but not hard enough to the break the skin.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.