Obstructed Death Investigations
Several Defense Department practices facilitate obstructing the medical evaluation of a death so that investigators are less likely to substantiate that a homicide occurred. Local commanders aborted or delayed some death investigations. At Husaybah, an unnamed prisoner made more than 20 escape attempts in 36 hours before he reportedly threw himself out of a window and died of head trauma. It is difficult to understand -- given the routine use of restraints on noncompliant prisoners -- how such a prisoner could throw himself out of a window. The camp commander delayed reporting the death. A cursory and inconclusive investigation was conducted more than a month after the body had been buried.<24> At Camp Cropper in 2003, an Iraq prison where many detainees were abused, 2 investigations were locally closed without autopsies.<25> In one, a prisoner being treated for chest pain "fell out of bed and struck his head. A CAT scan showed intra cranial trauma and signs of prior head injuries." Another detainee was found "unresponsive by guards"; the body did not exhibit any signs of abuse or foul play.
It is highly likely that investigators failed to substantiate homicides of ghost detainees. Mr. Hadi Abdul Hussain Hasson was a ghost detainee at Camp Bucca in Iraq. He was captured on an unknown date in the spring of 2003. US Army investigators learned of his death on July 27, 2004. The investigator wryly notes, "Due to inadequate record keeping, this office could only estimate the Mr. Hasson possibly died between April-Sept 03." Mr. Hasson's name was not found on the camp roster, military intelligence notes, medical records, or autopsy reports. The US Army death homicide investigation was ""unsubstantiated," but the investigation file contains a note, "Preliminary investigation has revealed the following detainees have alleged they were abused while in Coalition custody . . . Hussain Hasson.<26>" Nasrat Mohammad "Amer" Abed al-Latif disappeared after being taken into custody. The 23-year-old Iraqi physics student was shot during a raid on his house by plain-clothed armed men who appeared to be US nationals. His father and 2 brothers were detained for 5 days. Soldiers told the family that they had taken the injured Amer to a medical facility where he had died and that his body would be returned to them. His body and records of his care have disappeared.<27> Jamal Naseer was picked up by US Special Forces in Afghanistan in March 2003. He was held in a small, overcrowded detention cell at Gardez, a facility that did not register its prisoners and which was closed to Red Cross monitors. No medical personnel visited Naseer during the 17 days that he was held and beaten. Men arrested with Mr. Naseer were beaten, kicked, whipped, slammed against the wall, and immersed in cold water. Their toenails either fell off or were torn off. Eyewitnesses report that Mr. Naseer suddenly fell to the ground, seized, and died. He was bleeding from his ear. The clinical history suggests that he died of a basilar skull fracture, an injury caused by severe head trauma with a hard object. His death was not mentioned in the Pentagon's updated list of 39 detainee deaths in July 2004. The Pentagon claims that it did not know of this case until a human rights organization, the Crimes of War Project, informed them of the matter. Six months after he died, the US Army announced that it was opening an inquiry.<28>
"Rendition" is the practice of transporting prisoners to countries that practice torture for interrogation and imprisonment. It is against US law and the Geneva Convention. There is no account of the fates of the several hundreds of persons who have been tortured during this practice.<29> The United States bears responsibility for homicides of these prisoners.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/507284_8~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One wonders of the number of GHOST DETAINEES that were murdered also.
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