Fresh details emerge of Iraqis' abuse by American soldiers

Damning evidence of American soldiers abusing detainees at a second prison in Iraq was made public yesterday. It details how prisoners were "systematically and intentionally mistreated" at a military base in Mosul, culminating in one death. Nobody was court martialled over the abuse.

Damning evidence of American soldiers abusing detainees at another prison in Iraq was made public yesterday. It details how prisoners were "systematically and intentionally mistreated" at a military base in Mosul, culminating in the death of one. Nobody was court-martialled over the abuse.

An investigation by a US officer after a prisoner's jaw was broken found that inmates were hit with water bottles, made to do exhausting physical exercises until they collapsed, deprived of sleep, subjected to deafening heavy metal music and had cigarette smoke blown into sandbags they were forced to wear as hoods. One soldier said troops "always harassed the hell out of detainees"; another said that at times "the detainees would get so scared they would piss themselves".

In December 2003 a prisoner died after four days of continuous punishment. According to the documents, which were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union, mistreatmentwas not confined to Abu Ghraib jail, where abuse and sexual humiliation of inmates caused worldwide outrage last year.

The facility at Mosul was run by the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division. In a memo, the investigating officer said: "There is evidence that suggests the 311th MI personnel ... engaged in physical torture." His report in January 2004 said prisoners' rights under the Geneva Conventions had been violated.

The investigation was triggered by the case of Salah Salih Jassim, 20, who had his jaw broken in detention. He was not a suspect but had been arrested along with his father, an officer in Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen militia. Mr Jassim was held in a room with 70 other prisoners. Deafening heavy metal music was played and guards sounded bullhorns beside their heads. Mr Jassim said: "All night they were throwing water on us and making us stand and squat. From the night to the next day ... they were beating us."

The report said: "The detainees had sandbags over their heads that were marked with different crimes, leading the guards to believe that the particular detainee committed that particular crime." The bag on Jassim's head was marked "IED" ­ the acronym for the roadside bombs that have killed and maimed hundreds of troops. Soldiers in the room when Mr Jassim's jaw was broken all said they did not see the incident and the investigation was unable to determine which guards were at fault. None was punished.

The newly released records also had details of other abuse investigations.And last week, the US reopened an inquiry into how an Iraqi government scientist died while in detention. Mohammad Munim al-Izmerly, 65 when he died on 31 January 2004, is the only known weapons scientist to have died in US custody.The family commissioned an Iraqi post mortem, which found he died of a blow to the head.