Army Capt. Ian Fishback said he tried for more than a year to get his commanding officers to pay attention to reports of widespread abuses of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops.

But it was only after Fishback, 26, a West Point graduate, spoke to Human Rights Watch and several members of Congress that military investigators began to listen, he said Tuesday during a telephone interview from Fort Bragg in North Carolina. His civilian attorney, Gene Fidell, monitored the interview. It was Fishback's first public comment about allegations that surfaced last week in a report by Human Rights Watch.

Fishback served in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004. While in Iraq, he said, he witnessed abuses that included sleep deprivation and exposure to cold.

He said the abuses committed by Army enlisted soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, which sparked an international furor, "were not isolated." He also said he wonders "how many other people have tried and been unable to bring things to light, given how hard it has been for me."

The Human Rights Watch report included testimony from Fishback and two 82nd Airborne Division sergeants who served with him in Iraq and Afghanistan and alleged that members of their unit routinely abused prisoners. The sergeants, who described taking part in the prisoner mistreatment, were not named in the report.

Fishback said that Army investigators have interviewed him over the past week and that the Army has told him to reveal the names of the other two soldiers or face disciplinary action.

Lt. Col. John Skinner, a Defense Department spokesman, said the Army has opened a criminal investigation based on Fishback's allegations and the Human Rights Watch report. He said the Pentagon investigates all credible allegations of detainee abuse and has opened more than 500 criminal investigations to date. "Clearly, humane treatment of all detainees has been the standard," Skinner said.

Fishback said the investigation started only after he talked to Human Rights Watch and to Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and to his member of Congress, Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan.

Fishback said his interest in reporting the abuses was sparked by congressional testimony in May 2004 by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld said that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan follow rules in the Geneva Conventions barring prisoner abuse. That "raised a red flag," Fishback said. He said that he believed U.S. troops were not adhering to the conventions and that there was confusion over what behavior was acceptable.

Fishback said he considered it his duty to come forward. But, he said, "A lot of men I hold a great deal of respect for are going to hate me right now."

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