Accused Civilians in Iraq to Be Prosecuted

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040504/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/prisoner_abuse_prosecution&cid=542&ncid=1480

WASHINGTON - Civilians accused of abusing prisoners or detainees in Iraq (news - web sites) could be prosecuted by the Justice Department (news - web sites) under a little-used 2000 law inspired by a child molestation case.



Pentagon (news - web sites) officials said Tuesday their investigation into allegations of abuse in Iraq included one CIA (news - web sites) contract interrogator who has been referred to the Justice Department for investigation of a possible murder. The department would not comment on specifics, but a senior official said the murder investigation is the only civilian case referred to the agency from Iraq.


Most likely the case would fall under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows prosecution of crimes committed by civilians attached to military personnel in foreign countries when those countries refuse to prosecute or, in the case of Iraq, where there is no formal judicial system. snip

The law was approved too late to apply to another case involving alleged sex trafficking and abuse of women in Bosnia by workers for DynCorp Technical Services. The State Department had used Fort Worth, Texas-based DynCorp to recruit American officers for the U.N. International Police Task Force.

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[displacedtexan]

1. I'm not buying the lone CIA torturer crap!

One guy is not responsible for this whole mess.

[cliss]

2. Good. Now let's use the trickle-up approach.

I have a very strong hunch that the lower-level people will be talking to save their butts, and the higher-level people who condoned this will do the same.

While we're at it, let's find out how much we're spending on these contractors. I've been wondering for months.

[methinks2]

3. in addition to prosecution they should also

receive A little time in public stocks ala old Salem would also be appropriate.

[Old and In the Way]

4. We have to stop outsourcing accountability in our government.

I'm sure this regime likes private contractors to do the dirty work that, by law, the US government can't undertake. Too f'in bad. These contractors are not differentiated by the victims...they are the US military.

We need significant reform in our military command structure....I'm hoping that Kerry makes this a priority.

[methinks2]

6. outsourcing accountability

I like that. We need to start using those two words in public. "outsourcing accountability"

[Just Me]

5. Yup,...I see where THAT crap is going!!!!

W-I-N-D-O-W
D-R-E-S-S-I-N-G

I hope all the exemptions and exceptions and indemnity clauses wildly passed out by this administration are ALL exposed.

THAT'S what I want to see. I want the American people to discover how this BFEE-backed, neocon, PNACer cronies were PROTECTED FROM PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY by this corrupt administration.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. I wonder if Tinoire posting this ACT in DU yesterday

had anything to do with their sudden epiphany?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1517119&mesg_id=1518734&page=

[maddezmom]

8. to be or could be?

asscroft is going to do anything about this...he's under orders to bury it along with all the other misdeeds of the maladministration.

[MSgt213]

9. How did they get a arrest warrent for Sadr with no formal justice system?

Either you have one or you don't if you don't have one how the hell are you getting arrest warrants?

I would to see if they can win with an untest law that more then likely won't apply to any thing these guys did.

[Kagemusha]

10. These prosecutions will fail.

Mark my words.

No controlling legal authority.

[Just Me]

11. There is CONTROLLING legal authority. We just happen to have,...

,...despots who have acted unilaterally to exclude themselves from such laws.

It will catch up with them.

I JUST KNOW they will suffer a blow-back.

Call it a "woman's intuition"!!! :bounce:

[seemslikeadream]

12. infamous Vlakplaas death squad

More notorious is Gouws’ past. A former police officer, Gouws was a member of the infamous Vlakplaas death squad that terrorized blacks under apartheid. Only after South Africa established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Col. Eugene de Kock, a former death-squad leader who supervised Gouws, applied for amnesty, did the activities of the Vlakplaas come to light. Gouws faced a choice: repent by confessing, or be charged with crimes. He applied for amnesty, confessing on his application for absolution to killing 15 blacks and firebombing the homes of “between 40 and 60 anti-apartheid activists.”

There are an estimated 1,500 South Africans employed by security contractors in Iraq, according to the South African foreign ministry. Many used their backgrounds as mercenaries during Apartheid to bolster their credentials.

After being pardoned but ostracized in South Africa, “Where are these men expected to go?” asked Judge Goldstone.

Erinys International refused to comment on the matter.

The role of civilians contracted to work in Iraq was relatively unknown to most in the United States until four American security contractors met grisly deaths in Fallujah in March. While the vast majority of individuals contracted for security work may be honest, hardworking professionals, the desperate search for manpower is allowing criminals to join their ranks.

“At what point do we start scraping the barrel?” Simon Faulkner, the CEO of Hart, a respected British security company, asked recently in the New York Times. “Where are these guys coming from?”

Not only apartheid-era terrorists are finding opportunities in Iraq. Prior to the U.S.-led war, Saddam Hussein hired over a dozen Serb air-defense specialists—at the reported cost of $100,000 a month—to devise a mobile radar system that would protect Iraq’s air defenses from attack. Many were wanted for their paramilitary activities during the Balkan Wars in Europe.

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http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=05-04-04&storyID=18792