« Return to Search Results
Documents
Taguba Report Annex 63: Testimony of Captain Reese, Commander, 372nd Military Police Company
Feb. 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 308
Cpt. Reese was the commander of the soldiers directly involved in detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib. He said of his men “I'm appalled by what I saw from my soldiers; 2 out of the 7 here are correctional officers. And they were specifically put there for that reason”. He also commented on the conditions he found upon arrival at Abu Ghraib: “We I first arrived [at Abu Ghraib] in October and entered the MI wing my first reaction was "Wow there is a lot of nude people here". I was told that it was a MI tactic that was used to make the detainees uncomfortable. I was told it was ok; nothing was illegal or wrong about it. The Ml had a partition set-up so they can conduct their exercises in privacy. The exercises conducted of making the detainees do PT drills. I didn't know it was wrong at the time, but I know now”. When asked if he was trained on the Geneva Conventions he stated “No” and added “I may not be the smartest guy, sir, but I understand there's certain things you can and can't do when you're dealing with civilian internees”. The interview covered his mission orders and chain of command. The interview was then concluded.
AUTHORING AGENCIES:
OFFICIALS MENTIONED:
METHODS MENTIONED: