The Washington Post , in a story first released on its website last night, said a military lawyer stated at an open hearing on April 2 that Captain Donald J Reese told him that Lieutenant-General Ricardo S Sanchez and other senior military officers were aware of the abuse at the prison.
Sanchez stands by his testimony before congressional committees that he was unaware of the abuses until he ordered an investigation into the allegations in January, according to the statement.
Sanchez told the Senate Armed Services Committee he did not receive a November 6 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross detailing abuses at Abu Ghraib until two months later.
On Wednesday, Specialist Jeremy C Sivits became the first soldier convicted in the scandal. He received the maximum penalty of a year in prison, a bad conduct discharge and reduction in rank to private. Six other members of the 372nd Military Police Company, a Reserve unit from Maryland, also face court-martial.
