Court upholds CIA contractor’s detainee abuse conviction
Published: August 11, 2009
Updated 6 months ago
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.
5 comments
Printer Friendly |
Email
| Get breaking news alerts: Email/mobile |
I was just following orders. Didn’t the nazis use that same statement? Didn’t they also get a death penalty for it? I don’t see any differance here. Take him out and hang him. Also do the same thing to the ones to ordered him to torture the man. Let’s see how many others flee the country.
This will end up being just the tip of the iceberg regarding civilian mercenaries (’contractors’). With more revelations surfacing about the whack job christo-fascist Blackwater (Xe) goons, we’ll be seeing more and more disclosures.
These kind of people are a blight on this country and should pay a heavy price for their blood-lust.
“I vas just folling orrrders” didn’t work at Nuremberg either. Now, let’s go after the people that gave the orders.
There is a role for the sentence of either execution or life without parole. Both of them prevent vicious animals from ever being in a position where they can harm defenseless people. in this case either of them is applicable.
One wife beating, torturing soldier down, thousands more to go.
What do they say about Rangers? “Rangers lead the way”. Lead away mother fucker.