CAIRO , May 23 (IslamOnline.net) – A military lawyer for a U.S. soldier in the center of the Iraqi prisoners scandal said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq , was present during some of interrogations that saw the torture and abuse of prisoners, a U.S. mass-circulation paper revealed on Sunday, May 23.

The lawyer, Capt. Robert Shuck, assigned to defend Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II of the 372nd Military Police Company, said he was told that Sanchez and other senior military officers were aware of what was taking place in the notorious jail, according to a recording of a military April 2 hearing obtained by The Washington Post.

He said he was told by the company commander, Capt. Donald J. Reese, that Sanchez was there and saw with his own eyes the abuse.

Shuck said Reese was prepared to testify in exchange for immunity like many other officers, who could not help cover it up.

"Present during some of these happenings, it has come to my knowledge that Lt. Gen. Sanchez was even present at the prison during some of these interrogations and/or allegations of the prisoner abuse by those duty," Shuck told John McCabe, the military prosecutor.

"That's what he told me. I am an officer of the court, sir, and I would not lie. I have got two children at home. I'm not going to risk my career."

The hearing at Camp Victory took place several weeks before the story broke into public view with the airing of abuse photographs on April 28 on CBS's "60 Minutes II."

U.S. President George W. Bush had denounced the misconduct as "abhorrent, shameless and unacceptable" and apologized for it.

He appeared on Arab TV channels on May 4 in an attempt to regain trust of the Arab world in the aftermath of the abuse scandal, asserting the behavior of few soldiers does not reflect the American culture and values.

Myriad Of Testimonies  

A hooded prisoner cuffed at both wrists and collapsed over a rail

Gary Myers, the civilian attorney for Frederick , said he will request that immunity be granted to other military personnel who he said they have firsthand knowledge of what took place in Abu Gharib.

"We intend to seek immunity for a myriad of officers who are unwilling to participate in the search for the truth without protecting themselves," Myers told the Post.

Reese, 39, did not testify that day because he had invoked the military version of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and was not granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.

Shuck said Reese would testify that Capt. Carolyn A. Wood, who supervised the military intelligence operation at Abu Ghraib, was "involved in intensive interrogations of detainees, condoned some of the activities and stressed that that was standard procedure".

Shuck said Reese was disturbed by the military intelligence techniques.

"He noted that there were some strange doings by the military intelligence," Shuck said.

"He said, 'What's all this nudity about, this posturing, positioning, withholding food and water? Where's the Geneva Conventions being followed."

"All we have now is the government reacting after the fact with a bunch of pictures and want to whitewash this and accuse six enlisted soldiers of misconduct and yet hide the fact of what was condoned at the time," the paper quoted Shuck as telling the hearing.

Of the six soldiers, prison guard Jeremy Sivits was sentenced Wednesday, May 19, to one year in jail after pleading guilty to charges over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners inside Abu Ghraib.

Blame Game

Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski, who was in charge of U.S. detention facilities in Iraq as commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade, heaped the blame on Sanchez, who had previously held her unit accountable for the misconduct.

"I didn't know then what [Sanchez] probably knew, which was that this was something clearly in the MI, maybe that he endorsed, and he was already starting a campaign to stay out of the fray and blame the 800th," she told The Washington Post.

She wondered why Sanchez had visited Abu Gharib at least three times in October during which the serious abuses had taken place.

Karpinski added that Sanchez might have visited without her knowledge after the intelligence officers were given formal authority over the entire prison on November 19.

"Why was he going out there so often? Did he know that something was going on?" Karpinski asked.

She said military intelligence officers were "under great pressure to get more actionable intelligence from those interrogations."

"I think the MI people were in this all the way. I think they were up to their ears in it. . . . I don't believe that the MPs, two weeks onto the job, would have been such willing participants, even with instructions, unless someone had told them it was all okay."

Her counts were endorsed by Attorney Paul Bergrin, who represents another of the charged MPs, Sgt. Javal S. Davis.

He said the soldiers were simply following the lead of military intelligence officers.

"There are no ifs, ands or buts," he said. "They did order it. They were told consistently, 'Soften them up; loosen them up. Look what's happening in the field. Soldiers are dying in droves. We need more intelligence.’"

Iraqi prisoners who were set free from Abu Gharib prison Friday, May 14, called for issuing an international arrest warrant for U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his trial over their abuse.

The American New Yorker magazine dropped a bombshell Sunday, May 16, saying the torture was okayed by Rumsfeld.

The Post on Saturday, May 22, published testimony of soldiers speaking of fun and sadistic pleasure in abusing prisoners.

A day earlier it published a new photo gallery and a video clip of Iraqis being beaten and sexually humiliated.

It also published sworn statements by assaulted and sexually abused prisoners. (Click here to read the statements).