If you believe Specialist Jeremy Sivits, the MPs in his unit caught on camera tormenting Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison did it for sport. In statements he gave to military investigators looking into the allegations of abuse last January, Sivits depicted a sordid camaraderie in which a handful of young soldiers willingly followed the lead of the older Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick and Specialist Charles Graner into perverse revelry. Sivits described nights of violence and debauchery, during which soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company joked and laughed and subjected the prisoners under their control to sexual humiliation and physical pain. When detainees were reluctant to strip, he said, Graner punched one in the temple so hard, he lost consciousness. Sivits said the blow apparently injured Graner's hand, quoting Graner as saying, "Damn, that hurt." After naked prisoners were forced to pile up on the floor, Sergeant Javal Davis jumped into the human heap and stamped on fingers or toes. Frederick seemed "mellow" when he commanded prisoners to masturbate. Once, for no particular reason, said Sivits, Graner beat a prisoner's buckshot wound with a police baton. "The detainee begged Graner, 'Mister, mister, please stop,'" testified Sivits. He said Graner replied, "Ah, does that hurt?''
Even in the midst of the devilry, some of the soldiers knew their behavior was wrong. Although Sivits "was laughing at some of the stuff," he said, "I was disgusted at some of the stuff as well." He was told by others to say nothing. He complied, he said, because "I try to be friends with everyone." Investigators asked him whether anyone up the chain of command was present at those late-night sessions. "Hell no," he answered, "because our command would have slammed us. If they saw what was going on, there would be hell to pay." Sivits--who faces a special court-martial this week on charges revolving around photographing the maltreatment--is expected to plead guilty in exchange for a maximum sentence of a year in jail--and to repeat his testimony against the other accused.
But if you believe the other six soldiers implicated so far--Graner, Frederick, Davis and three female MPs--superior officers not only knew but approved of it all. The accused insist that military intelligence and civilian interrogators told the low-ranking MPs to soften up prisoners before they were questioned and that the unit was just doing the job. Guy Womack, Graner's civilian attorney, gave TIME copies of two photos he intends to use to defend his client, who was formally charged last week on seven counts of maltreatment and committing indecent acts. According to Graner, the photos, taken from a vantage point above graphic scenes previously made public, show two more sergeants from the 372nd and four military-intelligence officers watching with him as a chubby man in fatigues pushes naked Iraqi prisoners into a pile. Graner says the plump man is a civilian intelligence contractor and the military intelligence guys include two high-ranking sergeants. The pictures, attorney Womack told TIME, prove Graner was not giving orders but taking them.