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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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August 16th,
2006 - Defense Rests in Passaro Case |
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By Estes Thompson Associated Press August 16th, 2006 Raleigh - The injuries of an
Afghan detainee who died after two days of questioning by a former CIA
contractor can't be blamed for the man's death, a pathologist testified
Tuesday as the defense rested its case. Dr. Donald Jason, a Wake
Forest University professor, was the last substantial witness to testify in
defense of David Passaro. Passaro, 40, is accused of
beating Abdul Wali during questioning about rocket attacks on a remote base
where Passaro was stationed in 2003 along with U.S. and Afghan troops. Wali
later died, but Passaro is not charged in his death. Jason said he reviewed
pictures of Wali's body along with other evidence in the case. He said
bruising on Wali's back was probably caused by blood settling there after his
death. The two kicks to the groin that another medical expert said could have
caused the prisoner's death would have left him unable to walk if they had
been severe enough to kill him, but there was no evidence Wali was immobile,
Jason said. "From what I see, I
don't see anything that would have involved extreme physical pain," he
said. His testimony was offered to
contradict a government pathologist who said photos of Wali's body and
testimony from guards were enough to conclude the prisoner probably died from
beatings. Earlier in the day, Col.
Michael Boardman, former chief intelligence officer for coalition forces in
Afghanistan, said Passaro had been uncooperative during the investigation of
Wali's death. "We asked if he
(Passaro) would answer some questions and he declined," Boardman said. Boardman, testifying for the
defense, said there was insufficient evidence to determine Wali's cause of
death, but said he did determine that Department of Defense rules for
interrogations had been violated. Several soldiers have
testified that they saw Passaro, a former Special Forces medic working in
Afghanistan as a CIA contractor, beat Wali, striking him repeatedly with a
large metal flashlight and kicking him in the groin. "The rules had been
violated rather significantly, and these soldiers were part and parcel of the
violation," Boardman said. "The rules clearly prohibited striking
with the fist or beating ... what we would consider torture." But former Army criminal
investigator George Wysocki, now an IBM employee in Versailles, Ky.,
testified that he "determined there was no wrongdoing by the shift
guards" and that the Army and the CIA had different interrogation rules. Wysocki spent about a week
at the base, but he couldn't remember some details about the case and the
defense didn't have access to his reports. During the lunch recess, defense
lawyers reviewed a copy of a report given to them by the prosecutors. Passaro could be sentenced
to up to 40 years in prison if convicted. He is the first American
civilian charged with mistreating a detainee during the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. He is standing trial in his home state under a provision of the
USA Patriot Act allowing charges against U.S. citizens for crimes committed
on land or facilities designated for use by the U.S. government. The trial will resume at 9
a.m. Wednesday with closing arguments and jury instructions before the
10-man, two-woman jury is sent to deliberate. During a conference over
jury instructions at the end of court, defense lawyer Joe Gilbert indicated
the defense would argue that the flashlight wasn't a dangerous weapon. External link: http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/statewide_news/?SecID=332&ArID=125230 |