An Iraqi prisoner stated U.S. forces beat him with a baseball bat, broke his nose and dislocated his arms, then coerced him to drop an abuse claim to gain his release, Army files made public on Friday showed. In another case, U.S troops in Afghanistan posed for photos of mock executions with hooded and bound prisoners, but other pictures depicting abuse were destroyed to avert another public embarrassment after the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal surfaced in April 2004, the files stated. Several Army Criminal Investigation Command files released by the American Civil Liberties Union detailed previously unknown detainee abuse allegations. The documents were obtained from the government under court order through the Freedom of Information Act. "These documents provide more evidence that abuse was not localized or aberrational, but was widespread and systemic. They also provide further evidence that at least in some cases the government is not aggressively investigating credible allegations of abuse," ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer said. --More 0114 Local Time 2214 GMT
