PROMISES, PROMISES: US cannot document any payment to detainees for abuse at Abu Ghraib

PROMISES, PROMISES: No amends yet for Abu Ghraib?

WASHINGTON — Former Bush administration Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld promised six years ago he would make sure that Iraqi detainees abused by American troops at the Abu Ghraib prison would be compensated.

But now, the U.S. Army is unable to document a single payment for prisoner abuse at the notorious lockup. Nor can the more than 250 Iraqis or their lawyers now seeking redress in U.S. courts. Their hopes for compensation may rest on a Supreme Court decision this week.

The Army says about 30 former Abu Ghraib prisoners are seeking compensation from the U.S. Army Claims Service. Those claims are still being investigated and many do not involve inmate abuse.