U.S. military investigation reports no evidence guards beat Guantanamo detainees

(AP) An Army officer who investigated possible abuse at Guantanamo Bay after some guards purportedly bragged about beating detainees found no evidence they mistreated the prisoners _ but did not interview any of the alleged victims, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Col. Richard Bassett, the chief investigator, recommended no disciplinary action against the Navy guards named by Marine Sgt. Heather Cerveny, who had said that during a conversation in September they described beating detainees as common practice.

In an affidavit filed to the Pentagon's Inspector General, Cerveny _ a member of a detainee's legal defense team _ said a group of more than five men who identified themselves as guards had recounted hitting detainees. The conversation allegedly took place at a bar inside the base.

"The evidence did not support any of the allegations of mistreatment or harassment," the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which oversees Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in southeastern Cuba, said in a statement.

Investigators conducted 20 interviews with "suspects and witnesses," the Southern Command said. Bassett did not interview any detainees, said Jose Ruiz, a command spokesman.

"He talked to all the parties he felt he needed to get information about the allegations that were made," Ruiz said by telephone from Miami.

Brent Mickum, an attorney for two British prisoners at Guantanamo, said the lack of interviews with detainees suggested a "whitewash" by the military.

Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents hundreds of Guantanamo detainees, said the investigation "reveals that the government cannot be trusted to police itself when it comes to abuses at Guantanamo."

Guantanamo Bay began receiving prisoners, most of them captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in January 2002. Nearly 400 men are held at the detention center on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

Bassett's findings were approved by Adm. James Stavridis, the head of the Southern Command.

The investigation began on Oct. 13 and was expanded ten days later to include a similar allegation from a civilian employee who recounted a conversation between a female guard and a male interrogator, according to the statement. Following Bassett's recommendations, Stavridis said a "letter of counseling" should be sent to the female guard who allegedly initiated a "fictitious account" of detainee abuse.

Bassett also accused Cerveny of filing a false statement during a brief meeting with her at the Marine base at Camp Pendleton, Calif., her boss, Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, said last week.

"This sends a clear message that you better not report any detainee abuse at Guantanamo," said Vokey, who filed the complaint about possible detainee abuse to the Pentagon's Inspector General's office that included Cerveny's affidavit.

Vokey, a Pentagon-appointed attorney for Canadian detainee Omar Khadr, said Cerveny has no idea whether the abuse occurred and did not deserve criticism for alerting authorities about the guards' conversations.

"She didn't believe it was just bragging bar talk," he said. "She believed they were being sincere and that's why we reported it."