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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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August 7th, 2006 - Ex-CIA
Contractor on Trial in Beating |
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Ex-CIA Contractor on Trial
in Beating By Estes Thompson The Associated Press Monday, August 7, 2006; 8:05 PM Raleigh, N.C. - A former CIA
contractor broke both agency rules and the law when he used a 2-foot-long
metal flashlight to beat an Afghani man who later died, a prosecutor told a
jury Monday in the trial of the first U.S. civilian charged with mistreating
a detainee during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawyers for David Passaro
said the former Special Forces medic was a frustrated but concerned interrogator
who never hit Abdul Wali and checked daily on his condition. "Dave is guilty only of
trying to serve his country," Joe Gilbert, Passaro's public defender,
said during opening arguments. "He's not guilty." Passaro is charged with two
counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault resulting
in serious injury. Although Wali died in his cell, Passaro is not charged in
his death. If convicted, the 40-year-old from Lillington will face up to 40
years in prison. Prosecutors said at least
three paratroopers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division watched Passaro,
working under contract to the CIA, beat Wali during two days of questioning
in June 2003 about rocket attacks on a remote base housing U.S. and Afghan
troops. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat
Sullivan said Passaro told the soldiers they couldn't touch Wali, but that he
could, "because I have special rules." "David Passaro had no
special rules," Sullivan said. "He made them up." Sullivan said Wali was
chained to the floor and wall of a cell as Passaro kicked him, and struck him
with the flashlight and his fists. Once, he said, Passaro kicked Wali in the
groin, lining up like a place-kicker in football. Passaro's fingerprints were
in batteries from the flashlight, Sullivan said, adding that photos will
detail the extent of Wali's injuries. Gilbert told the jury that
Passaro's sole interest was in stopping the rocket attacks on the base, and
once Wali surrendered, the rocket attacks stopped. On the day Wali died,
Gilbert said, Passaro gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while other
medics tried to help. The opening statements came
after U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ruled the defense could not subpoena
former CIA Director George Tenet, former agency operations chief J. Cofer
Black, and University of California law professor John Yoo, along with
several others whose identities were not disclosed. Black is the State
Department's former coordinator for counterterrorism. Yoo is an ex-Justice
Department lawyer who helped write internal memos in 2002 designed to give
the government more leeway in aggressive questioning of terror suspects. Boyle said he would allow
Passaro's attorneys to subpoena six witnesses whose identities are
classified, and promised to rule later on four others. The judge considered
the prosecutors' request to keep the officials from testifying behind closed
doors before the jury was selected. Passaro's attorneys have
said they want to call Tenet and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, formerly
the White House counsel, as part of a "public authority defense" -
namely, that Passaro was following orders. It was not immediately clear
whether Gonzales was among those Boyle said could not be subpoenaed. Boyle has previously limited
the defense's access to several classified documents and e-mails, including a
memo from the Justice Department to the CIA that Passaro contends described
the kind of interrogation techniques allowed by U.S. law. The government is prosecuting
Passaro under a provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows charges against
U.S. nationals for crimes committed on land or facilities designated for use
by the U.S. government. © 2006 The Associated Press External link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/07/AR2006080700877.html |