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August 8th, 2006 - U.S. Court
Hears Closing Arguments in Iraq Rape Case |
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U.S. Court Hears Closing
Arguments in Iraq Rape Case Reuters Tue 8 Aug 2006 7:55 PM ET Baghdad, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A
prosecutor told a U.S. military court on Tuesday four soldiers should be court-martialled
on charges of murder and the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl because the
case had nothing to do with the strains of war. "Murder, not war. Rape,
not war. That's what we're here talking about today. Not all that business
about cold food, checkpoints, personnel assignments," the prosecutor,
Captain Alex Pickands, said as the court heard closing arguments. "Cold food didn't kill
that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old
little girl. They gathered together over cards and booze and came up with a
plan to rape and murder that little girl." The case has outraged Iraqis
and led Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call for a review of foreign troops'
immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law. The article 32 hearing - the
military equivalent of a grand jury - heard earlier how troops were
"driven nuts" by combat stress and how one of the accused burned a
puppy. Private First Class Justic
Cross described how conditions "pretty much crushed the platoon",
which lived in constant fear of being killed in the Mahmudiya area south of
Baghdad where the rape and murders took place in March. "It drives you nuts.
You feel like every step you might get blown up. You just hit a point where
you're like, 'If I die today, I die'. You're just walking a death walk,"
he said. On Monday, the court at a
U.S. base known as Camp Liberty heard graphic testimony of how three of the
soldiers took turns raping 14-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi before
murdering her and her family. "Triangle of Death" Mahmudiya is part of what
Iraqis call the "Triangle of Death" because of frequent attacks by
insurgents. Private First Class Jesse
Spielman, 21, Specialist James Barker, 23, Sergeant Paul Cortez, 23, and
Private First Class Bryan Howard, 19, face charges of rape and murder among
others. If court-martialled after
the Article 32 hearing and found guilty, they could face the death penalty.
The hearing began on Sunday and is expected to last several days. Private Steven Green, 21, faces
the same charges in a U.S. federal court in Kentucky, home of the 502nd
Infantry Regiment, his former unit. Green, who has pleaded not guilty, was
discharged from the army for a "personality disorder". Asked by a defence attorney
if it was possible Green committed the rape and murders on his own, Cross
said: "Green does nothing by himself." Staff Sergeant Eric Lauzier,
squad leader for the accused soldiers, said Green often said he wanted to
kill Iraqis. During the testimony,
soldiers spoke of how Green threw a puppy off the roof of a building and then
set it on fire. Captain John Goodwin, the
company commander, said Green was a "troubled soldier" who had
"some serious anger issues". Cross told the hearing how
soldiers took Iraqi cough syrup which "makes you feel high" to
relieve stress. "Everybody was very depressed. It was (an) outlet to
release," he said. An Iraqi army medic told the
hearing on Sunday he entered the Iraqi family's house and found the body of
the girl naked and burned from the waist up, with a single bullet wound
beneath her left eye. A fifth soldier, Sergeant
Anthony Yribe, is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false
statement. "She was young and
attractive. They knew where she was because they had seen her on a previous
patrol. She was close. She was vulnerable," said Pickands. David Sheldon, a civilian
lawyer for Barker, focused on Green in his closing argument. "When you put an
individual like that in a stressful situation, he becomes a canister of gas
waiting to explode," said Sheldon. "There was no meeting of the
minds. That was a plan that Green executed and the soldiers are not
responsible." The hearing was adjourned. © Reuters 2006. All Rights
Reserved. External link:
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=GEO881864 |