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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 11th,
2009 - Court Upholds CIA Contractor’s Detainee Abuse Conviction |
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Court Upholds CIA Contractor’s
Detainee Abuse Conviction From Agence France Presse August 11, 2009 Washington - A federal
appeals court has upheld the conviction of David Passaro, the first US
civilian found guilty of abusing a detainee in Afghanistan, according to a
copy of the ruling obtained by AFP Tuesday. A three-judge panel from the
Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia on Monday found
that, contrary to Passaro's argument, federal courts have jurisdiction over
assaults committed by US citizens abroad in countries where the United States
conducts military missions. The panel also ordered a new
sentencing due to "sentencing errors" that landed Passaro a prison
term of eight years and four months, longer than suggested by federal
guidelines. A CIA civilian contractor,
Passaro was convicted in the southeastern state of North Carolina in 2006 for
having hit Afghan detainee Abdul Wali with a flashlight and kicked him in the
groin during a marathon 48-hour "interrogation." Wali died from his
injuries. The interrogation, the court
recalled, "involved Passaro's brutal attacks on Wali, which included
repeatedly throwing Wali to the ground, striking him open handed, hitting him
on the arms and on the legs with a heavy Maglite-type flashlight measuring
over a foot long, and while wearing combat boots, kicking Wali in the groin
with enough force to lift him off the ground." During eight days of trial
in 2006, Passaro, now 43, claimed he was not guilty and instead had followed
the orders of his superiors, a charge the commanders denied. Since then, US courts have
heard several other cases of alleged homicide of detainees committed by
civilians who came to Iraq and Afghanistan as contractors to support the US
military, which has sometimes been stretched as it fights in two major war
theaters. Copyright © 2009 AFP. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gSo6iRtgbNNlDhDyO_VcZEmT45MQ |