Mysterious deaths worsen torture scandal

The Abu Ghraib prison scandal seems to be growing out of control, causing conflicting recriminations on responsibility. New allegations suggest that General Ricardo Sanchez, US top commander in Iraq was present at Abu Ghraibwhile torture was going on. Other allegations suggest that Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld okayed the abuse to combat "the insurgency and Al Qaida."

Yet, new allegations may prove to be more devastating. Medical records show that "autopsies were not performed on at least five Iraqi prisoners who died of mysterious causes at Abu Ghraib prison and other detention camps, according to Pentagon records."

Experts believe that the lack of forensic investigations may conflict with international standards, including the Geneva Conventions, for the handling of war-detainee deaths.

Among the cases is a prisoner who died, the records show, after "gasping for air." Another detainee who had "prior head injuries" fell out of a hospital bed and struck his head on the floor. One prisoner began having "chest pains and collapsed."

Synopses of the death investigations, which do not disclose whether the prisoners were interrogated, are enclosed in documents obtained by The Denver Post from a high-level Pentagon source this week.The deaths, all characterised as having "undetermined" causes, raise more serious questions about the treatment of detainees in the custody of US soldiers at Abu Ghraib and other combat-zone facilities, say US lawmakers and human-rights organisations.

However, top military officials were pressed for responses on Friday during a meeting of the House Armed Services Committee. Sounding the graveness of the situation, Congressman Vic Snyder of Arkansas, the ranking Democrat on the committee said, "These are horrendous allegations." He added, "These are different issues than what have been the focus so far of public discussion."

Democratic Representative Loretta Sanchez, another committee member, is seeking hearings while rounding up signatures for a letter to the Pentagon, she said, requesting more answers about "these awful issues" involving detainee deaths.

And Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he will be demanding answers from the Pentagon: "I want to get to the bottom of this issue or the top of it. If autopsies were waived or not considered, it raises further questions about how high this goes."

Four of the prisoners died last year – two at Abu Ghraib. The fifth death occurred this year at the Camp Cropper detention facility near Baghdad, records show.

Six prisoner deaths that did undergo autopsies were classified as involving "natural causes."Most were listed as heart attacks.

United Nations and Geneva Convention standards for handling war prisoners call for official inquiries into prisoner deaths. United Nations rules mandate that "autopsies be performed in suspicious deaths."

"That would seem to be covered under international law," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. Echoing the concern,Amnesty International released a statement last Thursday, saying: "We have written to the US government on numerous cases of deaths of detainees held by US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The official response has been inadequate, and the evidence now uncovered by The Denver Post has greatly heightened our concern."

– The writer is an Arab journalist based in Washington