Pentagon Now Probes 37 Prisoner Deaths

[Khephra]

Pentagon Now Probes 37 Prisoner Deaths
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 21, 2004


Filed at 10:38 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army has investigated the deaths of at least 34 prisoners held by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and three others who died violently in the two countries since August 2002, Pentagon officials revealed Friday. Among the prisoner deaths, nine are still being investigated as possible homicides, eight by the military and at least one by the Justice Department because it apparently involved only CIA personnel.

In a 10th case, a soldier was punished and dismissed from the Army for using excessive force after shooting to death a man in Iraq who was throwing rocks at him in September 2003.

The rest are attributed to natural causes or considered justifiable homicides, in which a soldier had reason to use deadly force on a dangerously violent prisoner, officials said. Eight deaths, in four incidents in Iraq, were considered justified.

Even as the investigation into the abuse and humiliation of prisoners in Iraq goes forward, similar criminal inquiries are under way into the circumstances of prisoners who died.

more.................

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-US-Iraq.html

[salin]

1. Wow - a week ago wasn't it only something like 6 or 8

deaths that were being probed?

Funny what the media can bring about - in terms of spurring response - WHEN they actually chose to report news.

[UpInArms]

2. related article: Pentagon details prison deaths

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/22/iraq.abuse/

excerpt:

IRAQ

Dilar Dababa died on June 13, 2003 in Iraq as a result of a closed head injury with a cortical brain contusion and subdural hemotoma. Death is listed as a homicide.

Maj. Gen. Abid Mowhosh died on Nov. 26, 2003 at Al Qaim, from asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression. Death is listed as a homicide.

Naem Sadoon Hatab died on June 6, 2003 in Nasiriyah from strangulation. He was found unresponsive outside his isolation quarters at the Whitehorse Detainment Facility. Death is listed as a homicide.

An unnamed 47-year-old detainee died on Jan. 9, 2004 in al-Asad from blunt force injuries and asphyxia. Death is listed as a homicide.
Tariq Zaid Mohamed died on Aug. 22, 2003 in Iraq from heat related injuries. Death is listed as an accident.
Hussein Awad al-Juwadi, 75, died on May 11, 2004 in Baghdad from severe atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Death is listed as natural.

AFGHANISTAN

Abdul Wahid died on Nov. 6, 2003 in Helmand Province as a result of multiple blunt force injuries complicated by probably rhabdomyolysis. Death is listed as a homicide.

Habib Ullah, approximately 29 years old, died on Dec 2, 2003 at Bagram Air Base after he was found unresponsive in his cell while in custody. Death is listed as a homicide.

Dilawar (no first name given) died Dec. 10, 2002 in Bagram from blunt force injuries to lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease. Death is listed as a homicide.

...more...

why are they not talking about these? (note Dilawar is one of the following "homicides" - but what of the other?

http://www.worldrevolution.org/article/716

March 7, 2003

Afghan prisoners beaten to death at US military interrogation base

The Guardian (UK)

Two prisoners who died while being held for interrogation at the US military base in Afghanistan had apparently been beaten, according to a military pathologist's report. A criminal investigation is now under way into the deaths which have both been classified as homicides.

<snip>

Two former prisoners at the base, Abdul Jabar and Hakkim Shah, told the New York Times this week that they recalled seeing Dilawar at Bagram. They said that they had been kept naked, hooded and shackled and were deprived of sleep for days on end. Mr Shah said that American guards kicked him to stop him falling asleep and that on one occasion he had been kicked by a woman interrogator, while her male colleague held him in a kneeling position.

<snip>

In January, in his state of the union address, President George Bush announced that "3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries" and "many others have met a different fate" and "are no longer a problem to the United States".

The other death being investigated is that of Mullah Habibullah, the brother of a former Taliban commander. His death certificate indicates that he died of a pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in the lung.

[Alpharetta]

3. Darn liberals won't let this issue drop

It's those Pentagon liberals. Why do they hate Bush?