WASHINGTON, May 6: A one-star US Army Reserve general became the first high-level military officer punished in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal on Thursday when President George Bush demoted her to the rank of colonel. Brig Gen Janis Karpinski was disciplined after army leaders deemed her job performance “seriously lacking” and accused her of concealing a past shoplifting arrest.
The army said in a statement Gen Karpinski had been reduced in rank to colonel, although an investigation by the army inspector general’s office “determined that no action or lack of action on her part contributed specifically to the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib”.
Gen Karpinski said last year she was being used as a “convenient scapegoat” for detainee abuse that was the fault of others. The announcement came 13 days after officials disclosed the army had exonerated Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, the former top US commander in Iraq, as well as three other senior officers.
Gen Karpinski had commanded the 800th Military Police Brigade that was at the heart of the Abu Ghraib abuse. Previous Investigations found Gen Karpinski feuded with the head of the military intelligence unit at the prison, contributing to an atmosphere of chaos.
Mr Bush approved a recommendation to demote Gen Karpinski on the advice of army leaders and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Gen Karpinski would not face criminal charges.
STOLEN COSMETICS: A US official said Gen Karpinski failed to inform the Army as required when filling out an official document about an earlier arrest on an Air Force base in the United States on a misdemeanour charge of stealing less than $50 worth of cosmetics from a military store.
Asked how Army investigators looking into detainee abuse learned of her shoplifting arrest, the official said: “Somebody ratted her out.” The Army confirmed what officials said previously — that Gen Karpinski received a formal written reprimand from the army’s No 2 general and was relieved from command of the brigade. It also said army leaders found that allegations of dereliction of duty by Gen Karpinski were “substantiated”.
The army, which had been accused by human rights activists of punishing only a handful of low-ranking soldiers involved in the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, also said it had taken disciplinary action against other officers in connection with detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They included a colonel, four lieutenant colonels, three majors, 10 captains, four 1st lieutenants and two 2nd lieutenants, the army added, declining to identify them. Five of the officers, none with a rank higher than captain, faced unspecified criminal charges, but most of the discipline was administrative punishment such as a formal letter of reprimand or a discharge from the military, the Army said. —Reuters
