Year's jail for US soldier who abused Baghdad prisoners

US soldier Jeremy Sivits today pleaded guilty to three counts of abuse in the first court-martial over mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. He was sentenced a to a maximum year in jail and reduced in rank.

US soldier Jeremy Sivits today pleaded guilty to three counts of abuse in the first court-martial over mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. He was sentenced a to a maximum year in jail and reduced in rank.

The military court then found Sivits, a reservist with a military police unit, guilty of all charges. Under military law, if the defendant pleads guilty, they must prove to the court they are guilty and the court then formally renders a finding.

Sivits, at times struggling to hold back tears, was charged with mistreating detainees, dereliction of duty for failing to protect them from abuse, cruelty and forcing a prisoner "to be positioned in a pile on the floor to be assaulted by other soldiers."

Sivits took pictures of naked Iraqi prisoners being sexually humiliated at Abu Ghraib. He could face up to one year in jail, reduction in rank, loss of pay and a bad conduct discharge.

Captain Scott Dunn, Sivits' lawyer, entered the plea on his behalf and expressed concern about the huge media coverage of the trial, asking "can you make a fair decision?"

The judge, Colonel James Pohl, replied: "Just because it's on TV, it doesn't mean it's true."

In an emotional description of the events that took place in the Abu Ghraib prison on the evening of 8 November, Sivits said he was asked by Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick to accompany him to the prison facility. Sivits struggled to describe the events, pausing while telling the judge what happened.

He said he was on detail outside Abu Ghraib and had done some maintenance work on generators when Frederick asked him to accompany him to the prison. Sivits took a detainee with him and when he arrived at the scene where the crimes took place, there were seven other detainees there.

"I heard Cpl. Graner yelling in Arabic at the detainees," he said. "I saw one of the detainees lying on the floor. They were laying there on the floor, sandbags over their heads."

Sgt. Javal Davis, 26, and another soldier, Pfc. Lynndie England, 21, were "stamping on their toes and hands."

"Graner punched the detainee in the head or temple area," Sivits said. "I said. 'I think you might have knocked him out."'

Sivits also said: "Graner complained that he had injured his hand and said, "Damn, that hurt."'

Sivits said all prisoners were then stripped and forced to form a human pyramid.

Sivits quoted one of the other six accused soldiers, whom he did not identify, as saying guards were "told to keep doing what they were doing by military intelligence." He added, however, that he did not believe the soldier.

Dunn told the judge that Sivits had reached a pre-trial agreement with the prosecution, presumably to testify against others accused in the case.

In Sivits' tiny Pennsylvania hometown, more than 200 residents wore yellow ribbons and clutched small American flags during a candlelight vigil.

"I want to make explicitly clear, Jeremy, no matter what, is still my son. We still love him," Daniel Sivits said in a brief public statement. "I am veteran of the Vietnam war and I want to say one thing - Jeremy is always a vet in my heart and in my mind."

Earlier, three other accused - Davis, Frederick and Spc. Charles Graner Jr. - appeared for arraignment in the courtroom at the Baghdad Convention Center, located in the heavily guarded Green Zone.

All three waived their right to have the charges read in court and deferred their pleas pending another hearing June 21.

The US military allowed news coverage of the proceedings in the hope it will demonstrate American resolve to determine who was responsible for the abuse and punish the guilty.

Nine Arab newspapers and the prominent Arab television networks Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya are among 34 news organizations being allowed to have reporters in the courtroom. No audio or TV recordings will be allowed in the courtroom, however.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said that US occupation authorities have refused to allow Iraqi and international human rights groups to attend the court martial.

"Barring human rights monitors from the court martial is a bad decision in its own right," Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa division, said in a statement. "It also sends a terrible signal to Iraqis and others deeply concerned about what transpired in Abu Ghraib."

The case has been closely followed by many of the 135,000 US troops in Iraq - with varied opinions.