On October 22, 2010, WikiLeaks published 391,832 U.S. Army field reports covering Iraq from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2009. The records listed 109,000 deaths, including 66,081 civilians, and documented incidents in which civilian deaths were reportedly classified as enemy casualties. Iraq Body Count said its review identified roughly 15,000 previously unreported civilian deaths, although it continued validating individual cases and had added 3,334 to its database by January 2, 2013.
The documents also contained allegations that U.S. and coalition forces transferred detainees to Iraqi units despite repeated reports of torture, rape, murder, and other abuse, and described incidents involving private contractor Blackwater personnel. UN officials Manfred Nowak and Navanethem Pillay called for investigations into possible violations of the Convention Against Torture; Amnesty International likewise warned that prisoner transfers could have breached international law. The Pentagon, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and General George Casey disputed claims that the United States concealed casualties or ignored abuse, while Iraq’s government announced a review of contractor conduct. The leak intensified scrutiny of wartime reporting and accountability, but the source does not establish that every allegation was independently proven or that senior officials were criminally convicted.
