Army medic tells of carnage after alleged rape
An Iraqi army medic told a US military hearing today he was sick for weeks after finding the naked and burned body of a 14-year-old girl allegedly raped and murdered by American soldiers south of Baghdad.
The medic gave his testimony on the opening day of a hearing to determine whether five US soldiers must stand trial in the March 12 rape-killing of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killing of her parents and sister.
It is among the worst in a series of cases of alleged abuse of Iraqis by American soldiers.
The medic, whose name was withheld for security reasons, told the hearing that he was the first responder to enter the house and found the girl sprawled naked in the house, her torso and head burned by flames. She had a single bullet wound under her left eye, he said.
“I was feeling very bad,” he said. “I was sick for almost two weeks.”
He testified that he found Abeer’s five-year-old sister, Hadeel, in an adjacent room. She was shot in the head and the bullet had blown the back of her head out, he said. The children’s parents – father Qassim and mother Fikhriya - had suffered similar deaths: the mother’s abdomen and chest were riddled with bullets, he said.
“The brain was on the floor and parts of the head were all over the place,” he said, referring to the man’s body.
He also told the hearing that because there was not enough space in the Mahmoudiya hospital to store the bodies, they were kept in an air-conditioned ambulance overnight, and buried the following day.
Four soldiers – Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spc. James P. Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, Pfc. Bryan L. Howard – have been accused of raping and murdering the girl – and could face the death penalty. A fifth, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is accused of failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have been a direct participant.
A former private, Steven D. Green, was arrested in North Carolina in June on rape and murder charges. Green, who was discharged from the Army for a “personality disorder” after the incident, has pleaded not guilty in federal court and is being held without bail.
During his testimony, the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Thomas Kunk, said he recalled hearing Green say that “all Iraqis are bad people".
“I told him that that wasn’t true and that 90 to 95 percent of the Iraqi people are good people, and they want the same thing that we have in the US,” Kunk said.
Today‘s proceeding is referred to as an Article 32 hearing, and is the military equivalent of a grand jury session. The hearing is expected to last several days, and parts will be held in secret.
The medic was among three Iraqi witnesses to give testimony. Reporters were not allowed to hear the first two witnesses but were allowed back in the hearing room when the medic took the stand.
Military prosecutor Capt. William Fischbach showed him a series of bloody crime scene photographs to confirm if the bodies were as he found them when he entered the room.
However, the defence lawyers alleged that the bodies were staged for the pictures. They also questioned whether the victims were shot to death, suggesting they were already dead when the bullets were pumped into their bodies.
The Iraqi medic acknowledged under cross-examination that he could only assume the family was shot to death.
US officials are concerned the case will strain relations with Iraq’s new government if Iraqis perceive the soldiers receive lenient treatment. The case has already increased demands for changes in an agreement that exempts US soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts.
US officials have assured Iraqis that the case will be pursued vigorously and that the soldiers will be punished if convicted. Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has demanded an independent investigation into the case.
Kunk, the battalion commander, said he was told about the alleged murders and rape on June 19. He questioned Barker and Howard the next day, and both denied that any coalition soldiers were involved.
Kunk described Baker as “very flippant, very confident, and more than willing to answer the questions I had".
US soldiers’ conduct has come under spotlight over a series of similar incidents.
Four soldiers from another regiment have been accused of killing three Iraqi detainees in Samarra three months ago. The Article 32 hearing in that case wrapped up Friday in Tikrit but no decision on a trial was announced.
