A former military policewoman involved in the Iraqi prison abuse scandal testified today that an intelligence officer asked her to watch a male detainee shower and point at his genitals, supporting defense contentions that soldiers were following orders.
Ms Megan Ambuhl told the court-martial of US army specialist Charles Graner, portrayed as the lead figure in the 2003 abuse scandal at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, that military interrogators would tell the prison guards what to do with detainees.
Seven military police and one intelligence officer were charged in the case, in which detainees were photographed naked in sexually humiliating positions.
Spc Graner faces a maximum 17-year sentence in a trial that officials hope to conclude this week.
Ms Ambuhl, who worked with Spc raner at the prison and admitted under cross-examination to having a sexual relationship with him, pleaded guilty last year to one count of dereliction of duty and was spared prison time.
"They would come down with their detainees and let us know what they wanted us to do with them," Ms Ambuhl said, referring to military interrogators. "They might say this guy is cooperating, not cooperating."
In one instance, she said an intelligence officer asked her to watch a male detainee shower despite the fact that prisoners usually had privacy.
"They wanted me to go in the shower and point at the genital area and laugh at them," she said. Another time, a civilian interrogator ordered her to deal with a detainee called "al-Qaeda" because he was a suspected member of the network, said Ms Ambuhl, who was present when a naked Iraqi prisoner was leashed and photographed.
"Steve (the interrogator) told us we were doing a good job and that breaking al-Qaeda (the prisoner) would have a global impact and save a lot of lives," she said.