THE INQUIRY
Report Is Likely to Prompt Criminal Charges
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: August 27, 2004
The Defense Department report on the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, issued Wednesday, will almost certainly give rise to criminal charges or disciplinary action against many of the more than 50 people found responsible. But the report's most immediate impact will probably be in the handful of pending cases against low-level military police personnel.
One of the seven soldiers charged, Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits, has pleaded guilty. Another, Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick II, has said he plans to plead guilty to some charges.
Lawyers for the remaining five say the report's findings lend support to their central defense - that they were following orders from military intelligence officers and others....
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The report, by Maj. Gen. George R. Fay and Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones, concluded that 42 military intelligence soldiers, officers, medics and civilian contractors bore some degree of responsibility for the abuses. It also said four more military police officers had a role in the abuses.
The findings were forwarded to military commanders and the Justice Department for possible criminal charges and disciplinary actions, and additional prosecutions beyond the first seven are inevitable, legal experts said....
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/27/politics/27legal.html