BAGHDAD, Iraq – New images showing Iraqis abused by U.S. guards at Abu Ghraib prison three years ago threatened Wednesday to further increase public anger already running high over footage of British soldiers beating youths in southern Iraq.
Images of naked prisoners, some bloodied and lying on the floor, were taken about the same time as earlier photos that triggered a worldwide scandal and led to military trials and prison sentences for several lower-ranking American soldiers.
Many of the pictures broadcast Wednesday by Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service, including some that appear to show corpses, were more graphic than those previously published. One of the video clips depicted a group of naked men with bags over their heads standing together and masturbating. The network said the men were forced to participate.
Some key Iraqi officials urged their countrymen to react calmly, since the pictures were old and the offenders had been punished.
In the Middle East, where there have been widespread anti-Western protests over caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya TV aired some of the Australian station’s footage but refrained from using the most shocking and sexually explicit images. CNN also broadcast excerpts.
Iraq’s acting human rights minister, Nermine Othman, said she was “horrified” by the pictures and would study whether any action could be taken against those responsible, even though some offenders have already been imprisoned.
“There will be two kinds of reactions from Iraqis,” she said. “One will be anger and others will feel sorry that they (Special Broadcasting Service) didn’t give them to the Iraqi government to investigate. Why use them? Why show them? We have had enough suffering and we don’t want any more.”
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Defense Department believed the release of additional images of prisoner abuse was harmful and “could only further inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence in the world.”
The network, which aired the pictures on its “Dateline” program, did not identify anyone in the images. However, several photos appear to show former Spc. Charles Graner Jr., who is serving a 10-year prison term for his role in the scandal.
In one image, men wearing combat-style uniforms and holding dogs on leashes appear. Another showed two naked men whose hands were cuffed together. Another depicted an Iraqi’s face in agony.
Other images showed what appear to be dead bodies, as well as wounded people and prisoners performing sex acts. Special Broadcasting Service said the bodies were of people who had died at the prison.
The Special Broadcasting Service also showed photographs of a bloodied cell block and the corpse of a man it said was killed during a CIA interrogation.
Another video, also aired by Al-Jazeera, showed a man described as mentally disturbed beating his head against a wall. Al-Jazeera’s brief excerpts included a hooded Iraqi male in his underwear, a naked figure lying on the floor next to what appeared to be a pool of blood, and another with a man who appeared to be Graner smiling as he held a male prisoner.
The Australian broadcast said many of the new photos showed Graner having sex with Lynndie England, a 23-year-old reservist from Fort Ashby, W.Va., who is serving a three-year prison term for abusing detainees. England said Graner fathered her young son.
Those photos were not shown.
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