WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (AFP) - US national guardsmen intervened after finding Iraqi policemen beating prisoners using apparent torture devices, but the troops were ordered to back off by a senior American officer, a US newspaper reported.
The Oregonian newspaper said the incident occurred on the first day that Iraq's sovereignty was returned by the United States on June 29. It said in the report, published Sunday, that some of the prisoners were as young as 14.
"The soldiers counted dozens more prisoners and what appeared to be torture devices -- metal rods, rubber hoses, electrical wires and bottles of chemicals. Many of the Iraqis, including one identified as a 14-year-old boy, had fresh welts and bruises across their back and legs," the newspaper said.
The guardsmen discovered the scene by accident after a soldier spotted an Iraqi policeman allegedly beating blindfolded and bound prisoners in the enclosed grounds of the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
The US embassy in Iraq confirmed the incident occurred and disclosed the United States raised concerns about the June 29 "brutality" with Iraq's interior minister.
US soldiers are "compelled by the law of land warfare and core values to stop willful and unnecessary use of physical violence on prisoners," the US embassy said.
It added, in a statement to the Oregonian, that the soldiers "acted professionally and calmly to ease tensions and defend prisoners who needed help."
The report said the guardsmen were ordered to back off on the orders of a senior general who was not identified.
One of the guardsmen who witnessed events, Captain James Southall, provided the paper with a written account of the incident.