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Seymour Hersh: Knowledge of Prisoner Abuse Investigation
"Severely and Unusually Restricted"
In the Shadow of Abu Ghraib: Death Row Prisoner Mumia Abu
Jamal On Iraq Prison Scandal
Former Military Police Officer Jailed for 17 Yrs Describes
Routine Mistreatment and Brutality in U.S. Prisons
Lori Berenson's Case Goes Before the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights
Seymour Hersh: Knowledge of Prisoner Abuse Investigation
"Severely and Unusually Restricted"
We speak with Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh
of The New Yorker which just released a series of photos showing
what appears to be a dog attacking a naked Iraqi prisoner.
And we hear Sen. John McCain questioning Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld at the Senate and House Armed Services Committee.
The US military announced this weekend that it would begin
its first court martial in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal
since graphic images of US personnel abusing Iraqi prisoners
were first broadcast April 28th. On May 19, proceedings will
begin against Specialist Jeremy Sivits, who is a member of
the 372nd Military Police Company. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt
made the announcement in the Iraqi capital and said the proceedings
would be held in the Baghdad Convention Center, which houses
the coalition press office. Kimmit said the trial will be
open to media coverage.
Sivits is one of seven soldiers facing charges but appears
to be a lesser figure in the case. He is believed to have
taken some of the photos of US personnel abusing the prisoners.
Amnesty International has labeled some of the actions depicted
in the photos as war crimes, while the Vatican said the conduct
of the soldiers at the prison, "offended God."
Meanwhile, the Bush administration continues to defend Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Several lawmakers have called for
his resignation, while some have gone so far as to begin drafting
articles of impeachment against him. In a statement issued
late Saturday, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "I think
Donald Rumsfeld is the best Secretary of Defense the United
States has ever had. People ought to let him do his job."
On Friday, Rumsfeld spent more than 6 hours in front of the
Senate and House Armed Services Committees.
Republican Senator John McCain questioned Rumsfeld on the
chain of command at Abu Ghraib and the role of private contractors
at the prison.
- Sen. John McCain (R- AZ) questioning Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld at the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing
on May 7, 2004.
One of the most talked about statements made by Rumsfeld
during his appearances on Capitol Hill Friday was that the
photos currently in the public domain are just a fraction
of the videos and pictures of US personnel abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The Pentagon is fighting to keep these images from reaching
the public and has been negotiating with Congress in an effort
to keep them sealed. But more images continue to emerge. The
New Yorker magazine just released a series of photos showing
what appears to be a dog attacking a naked Iraqi prisoner.
The photos are part of the latest article by Pulitzer prize
winning journalist Seymour Hersh. It's called called "Chain
of Command."
- Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for
the New Yorker.
In the Shadow of Abu Ghraib: Death Row Prisoner Mumia
Abu Jamal On Iraq Prison Scandal
The photos from Abu Ghraib show Spec. Charles Graner Jr.
in photographs giving the "thumbs up" over piles
of naked Iraqi men. Graner reportedly worked as a prison guard
in Virginia and at SCI Greene - the notorious prison in southwestern
Pennsylvania where political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is held
on Death Row. We hear Abu Jamal's latest commentary recorded
by the Prison Radio Project.
The photos from Abu Ghraib repeatedly show Spec. Charles
Graner Jr. in photographs giving the "thumbs up"
over piles of naked Iraqi men.
This same Graner reportedly worked as a prison guard in Virginia
and at the Greene County state correctional institution. Prisoners
there claim Graner beat and humiliated inmates while he worked
there as a prison officer. This according to the Sunday Herald.
SCI Greene is the notorious prison in southwestern Pennsylvania
where political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is held on Death
Row.
- Mumia Abu Jamal, radio commentator and Pennsylvania death
row inmate recorded by Prison
Radio.
Former Military Police Officer Jailed for 17 Yrs
Describes Routine Mistreatment and Brutality in U.S. Prisons
We speak with former military police officer Paul Wright,
editor and founder of Prison Legal News, who was recently
released from prison after serving 27 years for murder about
the physical and sexual abuse of that regularly takes place
in American prisons with little public knowledge or concern.
The LA Times reported Friday, that prison video cameras have
captured images of a prison officer allowing his police dog
to attack a prisoner who was not resisting. Those who have
seen the still-secret tape say it shows a canine officer letting
his German shepherd bite a 20-year-old prisoner on the leg,
even though the inmate was following orders and lying on the
floor.
No this is not yet another picture of Iraqi prisoners being
tortured by American military in Abu Ghraib. This prison abuse
took place in California. Physical and sexual abuse of prisoners
- similar to what has been uncovered in Iraq - regularly takes
place in American prisons with little public knowledge or
concern.
- Paul Wright, editor and founder of Prison
Legal News. He started the publication 15 years ago
while incarcerated. He was released this past December from
the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe after serving
17 years in jail for murder conviction. He is the editor
of two collections, "The Ceiling of America: An Inside
Look at the US Prison Industry" and "Prison Nation:
The Warehousing of America's Poor." He joins us on
the phone from his home in Vermont.
Lori Berenson's Case Goes Before the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights
We speak with Mark Berenson, father of political prisoner
Lori Berenson who recently returned from Costa Rica where
he stood before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights with
his wife to convince the court's judges to overturn the sentence
against their 34-year-old daughter. Lori has spent eight years
and five months in four different maximum-security prisons
in Peru.
On Friday, the family of political prisoner Lori Berenson,
who has been in prison in Peru since her arrest in 1995, went
before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is
based in Costa Rica. The court is the highest such court for
members of the Organization of American States. Accompanied
by their lawyer, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark,
they were hoping to convince the court's judges to overturn
the sentence against their 34-year-old daughter. If the court
rules there is sufficient evidence, it has the power to order
Peru to free her.
In 1996, Berenson was tried by a hooded military judge, accused
of terrorism, being a leader in the rebel group MRTA (Movimiento
Revolucionario Tupac Amaru) and of conspiring to take over
the Peruvian Congress. Ultimately, she was convicted of Treason
Against the Fatherland, despite the fact that she is not a
Peruvian citizen. During her trial, she was not allowed to
see the evidence against her, nor was she able to defend herself
against the charges. She was originally sentenced to life
in prison but in a subsequent trial the sentence was changed
to 20 years. In all, Lori Berenson has spent eight years and
five months in four different maximum-security prisons in
Peru.
- Mark Berenson, the father of Lori
Berenson, who has been in prison in Peru since 1995.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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