Reservist found guilty of Abu Ghraib abuses

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5790012&cKey=1116295523000

FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military jury convicted Army reservist Sabrina Harman on Monday on six of seven counts related to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in a scandal that badly damaged America's image abroad.

Harman, 27, appeared in some of the most notorious photographs taken at the prison outside Baghdad, including one in which she posed with a pyramid of naked detainees.

She could face a maximum of five and a half years in prison. The court will begin the penalty phase of her trial on Tuesday.

Harman, who showed no reaction as the jury foreman read out the verdict, faced charges of conspiracy, dereliction of duty and maltreatment of subordinates. She and her lawyers had no comment as she left the courthouse at Fort Hood, the largest U.S. Army base.

[Dhalgren]

1. She and every soldier in that prison who either participated, or

knew about the torture and kept quiet, deserves punishment for their crimes. And that punishment should go all the way up the line to every officer with any responsibility in the chain, right up to the CinC. There is nothing that the US can do to change what has happened, but the US can damned well make sure that no one misses the point. This was not an aberration, this was systemic and continues to this very day. These trials are a farce if they stop at the grunts (even though the grunts, themselves, were guilty)...

[texanwitch]

2. What I don't understand is how they do this to another human being.

It is just sick, I don't know how they could do this, I will never get the pictures out of head.

It is not just because of being in the military, I was in the Army for 4 years and I would never do anything like this.

To torture someone and then laugh about it, I hope she has fun in prison.

[Selatius]

3. How come these sentences are so light?

Only 5 years. Wasn't Lt. Calley in prison that long before they released him even though he slaughtered an entire village in Vietnam???

[happyslug]

4. Calley's Conviction was "Reviewed" within three days of his Conviction

And ended up serving only 3 1/2 years (My Mistake when I earlier said he only served three days).

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/mylai.htm

[rainbow4321]

6. Update: She got 6 months..but will serve 4 months ("credit/ time served")

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/051805dntexabughraib.283230a48.html


An Army reservist who appears in several of the most infamous abuse photos taken by guards at Abu Ghraib prison was sentenced Tuesday to six months in prison for her role in the scandal that rocked the U.S. military's image at home and abroad.

The sentence for Spc. Sabrina Harman came a day after she was convicted on six of the seven counts she faced for mistreating detainees at the Baghdad-area lockup in late 2003. She faced a maximum of five years, though prosecutors asked the jury to give her three years.

With credit for time served, actual time served will be just more than four months.

[Selatius]

7. 4 months, for doing that...incredible. That's a slap on the wrist.

That person should get 20 to 30 years in prison with no parole, imho.

[rainbow4321]

5. Harman called kind to Iraqis at sentencing

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PRISONER_ABUSE_HARMAN?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-05-17-14-53-26

The Army specialist convicted of mistreating prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was kindhearted and helpful while serving in an Iraqi city, witnesses said Tuesday at her sentencing hearing.

When other U.S. soldiers just wanted to sit in the shade after a long workday, Spc. Sabrina Harman ran around in the hot sun playing games with Iraqi children, testimony indicated. Even a prisoner who dealt with her at Abu Ghraib called her "just like a sister."

Two Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, whose testimony was read into the record, said Harman's gentle treatment was unique among the guards in the part of the prison reserved mostly for detainees believed to have intelligence value.

"She has no cruelty in her," said Amjad Ismail Khalil al-Taie through an interpreter. "Even though she is an American woman, she was just like a sister."

[thebigidea]

8. the guy who accidently murdered himself to death vouched for her, too

[Solly Mack]

9. She got 6 months....51 days time served, and 20 days good behavior

she'll serve roughly 3-4 months.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/1554211.html

[LibDemAlways]

10. Everyone involved deserves to be punished, but

the buck sure seems to be stopping well short of the masterminds' desks. Not holding my breath, but there will never be justice until Rummy, Wolfowitz, Rice, Chimp, and Cheney are behind bars.