AUSTRALIA: Pictures of Abu Ghraib abuse on Australian TV

SBS releases new photographs of prisoner abuse inside Abu Ghraib prison

The Daily Star
Thursday, February 16, 2006

Melbourne --- Australian public broadcaster SBS on Wednesday released a handful of what it said were previously unpublished photographs of the abuse of prisoners in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib jail by US soldiers.

The pictures seen by AFP -- which include a man with his throat slit, another with massive head injuries and a third covered in what could be faeces -- were among what SBS said would be dozens shown later Wednesday.

Their release comes amid fury in the Muslim world, where anti-Western sentiment is raging over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, and follows earlier pictures of abuse by US forces at the Baghdad prison.

"These images reveal further widespread abuse including new incidents of homicide, torture and sexual humiliation," SBS said. No US troops were identifiable in any of the images seen by AFP.

"The extent of the abuse shown in the photos suggests that the torture and abuse that occurred at Abu Ghraib in 2004 is much worse than is currently understood," the broadcaster said.

Other photographs released ahead of the broadcast showed one naked man hanging upside down from a bunk bed and another, hooded and bound in an orange jumpsuit, apparently being threatened by a dog.

Another man displayed what looked to be burn marks on his left forearm. One photo showed a man with serious injuries to his head, covered in blood and lying on a stretcher.

The station claims a "world exclusive", saying the pictures have never before been shown publicly. A spokeswoman would not comment on how the photographs had been obtained.

The photographs, to be shown on the "Dateline" programme at 8:30 pm (0930 GMT) on Wednesday, are the subject of a legal battle to prevent their publication in the United States, SBS said.

Date Posted: 2/16/2006