Robert H. Reid / Associated Press & Ryan Lenz / Associated Press – 2006-07-09 22:40:59
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060709/D8IOH4H00.html
5 US GIs Charged in Iraq Rape-Slay CaseRobert H. Reid / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (July 9, 2006) — Four more US soldiers have been charged with rape and murder and a fifth with dereliction of duty in the alleged rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman and the killings of her relatives in Mahmoudiya, the military said Sunday.
The five were accused Saturday following an investigation into allegations that American soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division raped the teenager and killed her and three relatives at her home south of Baghdad.
Ex-soldier Steven D. Green was arrested last week in North Carolina and has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder.
The US statement said the five soldiers still on active duty will face an Article 32 investigation, similar to a grand jury hearing in civilian law. The Article 32 proceeding will determine whether there is enough evidence to place them on trial.
One of the soldiers was charged with failing to report the attack but is not believed to have participated in it directly, the statement said.
The names of the four soldiers were not released.
The March 12 attack on the family was among the worst in a series of cases of US troops accused of killing and abusing Iraqi civilians. US officials are concerned that the alleged rape-slaying will strain relations with the new US-backed government and increase calls for changes in the agreement that exempts American soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has demanded an independent investigation into the case, which followed a series of allegations that US troops killed and mistreated Iraqi civilians.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in Green’s case, Green and at least two others targeted the teenager and her family for a week before the attack, which was not revealed until witnesses came forward in late June.
The soldiers drank alcohol, abandoned their checkpoint, changed clothes to avoid detection and headed to the victims’ house, about 200 yards from a US military checkpoint in the so-called “Triangle of Death,” a Sunni Arab area south of Baghdad known for its violence, the affidavit said.
The affidavit estimated the rape victim was about 25. But a doctor at the Mahmoudiya hospital gave her age as 14. He refused to be identified for fear of reprisals.
Green is accused of raping the woman and killing her and three relatives — an adult male and female and a girl estimated to be 5 years old. An official familiar with the investigation said he set fire to the rape victim’s body in an apparent cover-up attempt.
Iraqi authorities identified the rape victim as Abeer Qassim Hamza. The other victims were her father, Qassim Hamza; her mother, Fikhriya Taha; and her sister, Hadeel Qassim Hamza.
US Seeks to Exhume Iraqi Girl’s Remains
Ryan Lenz / Associated Press
TIKRIT, Iraq (July 8, 2006) — US investigators have asked Iraqi authorities to help them navigate cultural sensitivities to exhume the body of a teenager allegedly raped and murdered with her family by American soldiers, a military official said Saturday.
US Maj. Mark Wright said US authorities are aware that Islamic tradition has strict rules governing exhumation and could require religious leaders to become involved in the investigation.
“You want to be aware of these cultural issues while at the same time making sure that the accused receives proper justice,” Wright, a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq, told The Associated Press.
Muslim tradition generally frowns on exhumations, considering them desecration of the remains.
However, Ahmed Taha, the uncle of the dead teen, told AP Thursday that relatives were eager to cooperate with investigators and would allow them to exhume the body of the alleged rape victim, Abeer Qassim Hamza. Her parents and sister were also slain.
Ex-soldier Steven D. Green was arrested last week in North Carolina and has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder.
Four soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment have been taken to a US military camp in Baghdad for questioning, Wright said. He would not say if those soldiers had been arrested, but another US official said Saturday that several more soldiers would soon be charged. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Based on interviews and records, the US military now believes the woman who Green is accused of raping and killing was between the ages of 14 and 20, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said Friday. While the military initially said she was 20, Boyce said he has seen documents that indicate she could have been about 14.
Wright said officials are also considering whether certain parts of a standard Western autopsy would be taboo in Iraq and if a religious leader or family members should be present to ensure cultural barriers are not crossed.
He said US military commanders in Iraq are working with the family’s relatives to expedite the investigation, but that it was not immediately clear whether Iraqis or Americans would have custody of the woman’s remains.
US officials are concerned that the alleged rape-slaying, which occurred March 12 near Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, will strain relations with the new US-backed government and increase calls for changes in the agreement that exempts American soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has demanded an independent investigation into the case, which followed a series of allegations that US troops killed and mistreated Iraqi civilians.
According to an FBI affidavit, Green and at least two others targeted the teenager and her family for a week before the attack, which wasn’t revealed until witnesses came forward in late June.
The soldiers drank alcohol, abandoned their checkpoint, changed clothes to avoid detection and headed to the victims’ house, about 200 yards from a US military checkpoint in the so-called “Triangle of Death”, a Sunni Arab area south of Baghdad known for its violence, the affidavit said.
In the week since the allegations came to light, the military has remained tightlipped even amid growing cries by Iraqi leaders for a fair investigation.
President Bush, speaking on CNN’s “Larry King Live” last Thursday, said the Iraqis should understand that the allegations will be handled “in a very transparent upfront way.”
“People will be held to account if these charges are true,” Bush said.
In the chow halls and barracks, many soldiers remain convinced that the alleged rape and killings in Mahmoudiya were aberrations and that most American service members respect the rules of war.
“These crimes are against all the Army values, so if you don’t have any of those values, you shouldn’t even call yourself a soldier,” said Staff Sgt. Ahmand Brown, 28, of Flint, Mich.
In the aftermath of claims that Marines killed civilians in the western town of Haditha in November, the US military in Iraq ordered all personnel to undergo values training.
The Army has also paid greater attention to its rules of engagements, which determine when a soldier can use deadly force. But a bad soldier is a bad soldier, no matter the training, Brown said.
Green, who served 11 months with the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., received an honorable discharge and left the army in mid-May. He was discharged because of an “anti-social personality disorder,” according to military officials and court documents.
But even before the rape-murder allegation surfaced, the military was investigating an incident in which three soldiers from the same battalion were killed by insurgents near Youssifiyah. Two of them apparently were abducted and slain, with their bodies mutilated.
US officials insist they have no evidence that the incidents are related.
Associated Press Correspondent Ryan Lenz is embedded with the 101st Airborne Division in Tikrit, Iraq.
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