JAG CENTRALThe world's first weblog devoted to military justice and military law issues.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
BREAKING NEWS: FIRST CIVILIAN CHARGED IN ABU GHRAIB SCANDAL
WASHINGTON (AP) — A contractor working for the CIA has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from the abuse of a prisoner in Afghanistan, the first civilian to face criminal charges in the case, officials said Thursday.
Two federal law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the indictment was returned by a grand jury in Raleigh, N.C. They identified the defendant as David Passaro and said the case involved the death of a prisoner in U.S. custody.
The prisoner who died in June 2003, identified as Abdul Wali, was being held at a U.S. detention facility in Asadabad, Afghanistan.
The exact nature of the charges could not be immediately be determined. The officials said Passaro was arrested Thursday morning in Fayetteville, N.C., and would appear in federal court later in the day in Raleigh, N.C.
Attorney General John Ashcroft scheduled an afternoon news conference in Washington to provide further details. The case was among three referred by the CIA inspector general to the Justice Department for prosecution.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the case.
The charges come amid multiple ongoing investigations by the Defense Department and other agencies into allegations of prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. No civilians have been charged yet in those investigations. Seven soldiers face military charges in that scandal.
Democratic lawmakers and other critics say the Bush administration set the legal stage for the abuse by circulating a series of memos that appear to justify use of torture and argue that the president's wartime powers trump laws meant to protect prisoners.
President Bush and Ashcroft have repeatedly insisted that no orders were given to the military or CIA that would violate U.S. antitorture laws or the protections of the Geneva Conventions.
There have been three confirmed deaths of detainees at prisons in Afghanistan, where allegations of abuse include reports from former prisoners of hoodings, beatings and sexual abuse.
Some 2,000 prisoners have been held at the jails since U.S. troops entered Afghanistan in late 2001 to topple the Taliban regime for granting sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, according to the military.
