Wednesday, March 22, 2006



Nice conviction; what about the sentence?

Sgt Michael Smith, the US Army dog handler whose antics at Abu Ghraib shocked the world, has been found guilty on six charges relating to detainee abuse, including maltreatment, dereliction of duty and assault. This is good news, but we should wait to see the sentence before celebrating. In the last trial for detainee abuse - that of a US Army interrogator who suffocated a prisoner to death by stuffing him into a sleeping bag and sitting on him - the defendant was duly convicted, and then "sentenced" to a reprimand and a fine - for sadisticly killing someone. It will be interesting to see whether this contempt for justice is repeated, or whether the US military manages to effectively hold itself to account in this case.

1 comments:

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/world/14139070.htm

I guess not.

Posted by Anonymous : 3/22/2006 09:11:00 PM