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US soldier Lynndie England was found guilty on Monday of abusing prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison in a scandal that caused international outrage.
She now faces a prison term of up to 10 years.
Ms England, one of a group of reserve soldiers accused of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, was found guilty by a military jury on six of seven charges, including maltreatment of prisoners. She was found not guilty on a conspiracy count.
In photographs published around the world, Ms England, a young female Army reservist, was shown holding a naked Iraqi prisoner by a leash and pointing to an inmate’s genitals.
Ms England showed no visible reaction as she stood at attention to hear the verdict.
A military prosecutor said she humiliated prisoners because she enjoyed it and had a sick sense of humor, but her attorneys said she took part in the humiliation because of an overly compliant personality.
Ms England’s case was the latest in a series of prosecutions or plea bargains of low-level soldiers who served at Abu Ghraib. The military has also reprimanded some higher-ranking officers, and allegations have surfaced of hundreds of other cases of detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Human Rights Watch has published a report giving fresh details of alleged torture and abuse of detainees by US forces in Iraq.
The report quotes three US soldiers who described routine, severe beatings of prisoners, including a detainee's leg being broken with a baseball bat.
Other allegations included applying burning chemicals to detainees' eyes and skin, making them glow in the dark.
A US defence spokesman said the report contained errors and distortions.
As long as no [prisoners] came up dead, it happened Sergeant, 82nd Airborne Quoted by Human Rights Watch
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report is based on interviews with a captain and two sergeants who served in a battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division.
They said abuse, at a military base called Mercury near Falluja, was not only overlooked, but was sometimes ordered.
The punishments handed out included sleep deprivation, withholding food and water, "human pyramids" like those seen in photos from Abu Ghraib prison, and blows to the face, the report claimed.
'Agenda'
One of the soldiers told HRW the abuse was ordered by intelligence officers in an attempt to gain information.
Another said it was seen as "sport".
"Everyone in camp knew if you wanted to work out your frustration you show up at the [interrogation] tent," he reportedly said.
"As long as no PUCs [prisoners under control] came up dead, it happened," he said.
"We kept it to broken arms and legs."
HRW said the reports "suggest that the mistreatment of prisoners by the US military is even more widespread than has been acknowledged to date".
Lt Col Skinner of the US Department of Defense said the dossier was trying to "advance an agenda through the use of distortions and errors in fact".
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