2 Testify CIA Questioner Beat Detainee

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Full story: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060810/D8JD91BO0.html

2 Testify CIA Questioner Beat Detainee
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Aug 9, 9:49 PM (ET)

By ESTES THOMPSON

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - An ex-CIA contractor charged with beating an Afghan detainee who later died hit the man with a flashlight and kicked in him the groin with enough force to lift him off the ground, witnesses testified Wednesday.

The two were the first witnesses to say they saw David Passaro beat detainee Abdul Wali during a 2003 interrogation about rocket attacks on a remote base housing U.S. and Afghan troops.


Former CIA contractor David Passaro 38, center, speaks to the media in front of the North Carolina Federal Building where he was being held in the Wake County jail Friday, in Raleigh, N.C., in this Aug. 27, 2004, file photo. Passaro was released from custody pending a trial for a June 2003 beating of a prisoner in Afghanistan who later died. More than three years later, after several soldiers working at Abu Ghraib have been sentenced to prison, Passaro will finally stand trial when jury selection begins Monday, Aug. 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Sara D. Davis)


Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Johnson said he was assigned to guard Wali once he was brought into the detention area. In describing the interrogation, Johnson said Passaro at various times grabbed Wali by his shirt and slammed his face to the wall and floor, smacked his head with an open hand and hit him with a metal flashlight.

"Dave kicks him - a straight kick to the groin. There was enough force to launch (Wali) off the ground," Johnson said.