WASHINGTON, May 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S. military has opened criminal investigations into the deaths of 25 detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, including two homicides, senior army officials said Wednesday, May 5.

"Since December of '02, there have been a total of 35 CID (Criminal Investigation Division) investigations into allegations of detainee misconduct, across the theater, Afghanistan and Iraq," said General George Casey, the army’s vice chief of staff.

The cases were different from the abuse cases at Abu Ghraib, Major General Don Ryder, the army's chief law enforcement officer, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He said 25 investigations were underway into deaths of prisoners while in custody, and 10 others into assaults and other abuse of prisoners.

In one case, a soldier was found guilty of homicide, reduced to the rank of private and discharged from the service, army spokesman Colonel Joe Curtin said.

He elaborated that the soldier "shot an Iraqi throwing rocks at him at a forward detention location," in September.

The other death case, which involved a CIA-contracted interrogator, occurred at Abu Ghraib on November 3, said the military spokesman, adding the investigation is still underway.

In 12 other cases, investigators ruled that deaths were the result of "undetermined or natural causes," he indicated.

The death of an inmate while attempting to escape Abu Ghraib last year was ruled "justifiable homicide," army officials said.

Another 10 deaths are still under investigation, as are the abuse cases, they underlined.

Curtin said one case of abuse involved sexual assault and the others, simple assault.

He had no information whether the sexual assault involved a male or female detainee.

Broader Scope

The disclosures indicated that abuse problems in military-run detention centers were broader in scope than U.S. officials have suggested in the wake of a scandal triggered by photographs taken in Abu Ghraib, showing detainees stripped naked and in humiliating sexual poses.

The army investigation found that soldiers committed "egregious acts" and "grave breaches of international law" at Abu Ghraib, according to a report made available to CNN.

U.S. military officials on Tuesday also acknowledged publicly that they were willing to use "aggressive" interrogation techniques to extract information from detainees.

General Geoffrey Miller, deputy commanding general of detention operations in Iraq, was quoted by the Financial Times Tuesday edition as saying extreme techniques such as sleep deprivation and forcing detainees to stand for hours in uncomfortable positions must be authorized by senior officers.

Amnesty International said it has uncovered a "pattern of torture" of Iraqi detainees by occupation troops, and called for an independent investigation.

The U.S. New Yorker magazine revealed on Sunday, May2, that the horrific pictures were part of a systematic "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" at Abu Ghraib. 

'Serious Problem'

In his first public comments on the abuse scandal, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pledged a full investigation, admitting earlier knowledge of the abuse cases in Iraq before the photo scandal.

"This is a serious problem, and it's something the department is addressing," he told a Pentagon briefing.

Rumsfeld said the criminal investigation was one of six probes launched since January, CNN reported on its website.

He said six soldiers have been criminally charged in the case in Iraq and six others have been reprimanded, with two of those relieved of duty.