Rights group: U.S. "whitewashed the torture" - U.S. Government NOT Investigating Torture Cases

Citing newly released government files, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) accused the U.S. of failing to fully probe abuse cases in Ab Ghraib jail near the Iraqi capital, including forced sodomy and severe physical beatings. Among the abuse cases was that of an elderly Iraqi woman sodomized with a stick, documents obtained by the (ACLU) showed. "The documents that the ACLU has obtained tell a damning story of widespread torture reaching well beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib," the scene of Iraqi detainees abuse by U.S. soldiers, it said. New abuse cases were discovered in Defense Department documents and other government records obtained by a federal court order sought by the ACLU and other groups under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents showed that the Pentagon failed to conduct a full probe into allegations of detainee abuse even though there were "serious allegations of torture including electric shocks, forced sodomy and severe physical beatings," the ACLU said. "Government investigations into allegations of torture and abuse have been woefully inadequate," said Anthony Romero, ACLU executive director. Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project said that "these documents raise grave questions about how seriously the government is investigating allegations of torture". [more] and [more]