Rumsfeld: Unreleased Images 'Cruel and Inhuman'

Defense secretary outlines panel to probe prisoner abuse

Saturday, May 8, 2004

(8:47 AM ET) (12:47 GMT)

The Cable News Network

CNN's John King, Jamie McIntyre, Ed Henry and Dana Bash contributed to this report

Rumsfeld told Congress the unrevealed photos and videos contain acts "that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman."

A classified Army report details alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. The report, by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, details "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses," and "grave breaches of international law." The investigation was first reported in The New Yorker, while CBS aired photos of mistreated Iraqi prisoners.

Image Credit: CNN &, Globalsecurity.org

WASHINGTON -- CNN
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed Friday that videos and "a lot more pictures" exist of the abuse of Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib prison.

"If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse," Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I mean, I looked at them last night, and they're hard to believe."

The embattled defense secretary fielded sharp and skeptical questions from lawmakers as he testified about the growing prisoner abuse scandal. (Full story)

A military report about that abuse describes detainees being threatened, sodomized with a chemical light and forced into sexually humiliating poses.

Charges have been brought against seven service members, and investigations into events at the prison continue.

Military investigators have looked into -- or are continuing to investigate -- 35 cases of alleged abuse or deaths of prisoners in detention facilities in the Central Command theater, according to Army Secretary Les Brownlee. Two of those cases were deemed homicides, he said.

"The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters after Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"We're talking about rape and murder -- and some very serious charges."

(More: CNN.com / World)

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Dan