Mahmudiyah killings
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| Al-Mahmudiyah Incident | |||||||
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  Al-Mahmudiyah
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The Al-Mahmudiyah killings occurred on 12 March 2006, in a house to the southwest of Yusufiyah, a village to the west of the town of Al-Mahmudiyah, which is south of Baghdad, Iraq. Five United States Army soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment were charged with the crimes: (i) Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, (ii) Spc. James P. Barker, (iii) Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, (iv) Pfc. Brian L. Howard, and (v) Pfc. Steven D. Green (whom the Army discharged before the crime's discovery). A fourteen-year-old girl Abeer Qasim Hamza was gang-raped and murdered, after her family was murdered: her mother, Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34; father, Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45; and five-year-old sister Hadeel Qasim Hamza. [1] As of August 2007 Barker, Spielman and Cortez were sentenced for this crime.[2]
On 22 June 2006, the rape and the murders came to light when Pfc. Justin Watt (of the same platoon) revealed them during a psychological health counseling session he received consequent to the killings of two, other soldiers of the 502nd Regiment. Moreover, by then, one of the murderers, Pfc. Steven Green, had been honorably discharged from the Army on 16 May 2006, because of an "antisocial personality disorder", [3] so the FBI charged him with the killings, not the U.S. Army, because the discharge ended its jurisdiction upon him. [3] Steven Green was arrested as a civilian, and so has been subject of most reportage of the al-Mahmudiyah killings. The four, other, active-duty soldiers, Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spc. James P. Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, were charged with the crimes by the U.S. Army. Currently, they are imprisoned in the Forward Operating Base at Mahmudiyah, Iraq, per Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell they might face the death penalty.[4]
The Qasim family lived in an isolated farm house situated approximately 200 meters[5] away from a traffic checkpoint manned by US soldiers. The soldiers, who noticed Abeer as she worked in the field next to the house,[6] formed a 6-man unit responsible for the traffic checkpoint. According to the neighbors, the accused soldiers had previously entered the farmhouse several times, ostensibly to search it, and had made advances towards Abeer in the days before the actual killing took place. Abeer's brother Mohammed, aged 13, who survived the attack along with his younger brother because they were in school at the time, said he witnessed one of the soldiers stroke Abeer's face during one of their visits to the house, a gesture that had terrified the girl.[7]
Abeer's mother was concerned enough about the soldier's advances to request that Abeer be allowed to spend her nights at the neighbor's house. Abeer’s father did not think a significant danger was imminent, saying "it was no problem and that she was just a small girl."[6] Nevertheless, Abeer started to sleep at her neighbor’s house at nights, which proved to be an ineffective deterrent as the attack took place in broad daylight the day after Abeer spent her first night with neighbors.
According to the affidavit written by the FBI in support of an arrest warrant for Steven Green, the accused had discussed raping the girl in the days preceding the event. On the day in question, five soldiers of the six-man unit responsible for the checkpoint left their posts for the Qasim farmhouse. Four of the soldiers are alleged to have directly participated in the attack, while a fifth (PFC Howard) acted as lookout. A sixth soldier SGT Anthony W. Yribe, is charged with failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have been a direct participant.
The affidavit goes on to state that the soldiers entered the house and ordered Abeer’s father, mother and sister into another room where Steven Green summarily shot all in the head, emerging to say, "I just killed them, all are dead." As the rest of the family was shot in the other room, Abeer was held down to the floor by another soldier. After killing the other family members, Green and at least one other soldier raped Abeer, and then Green shot and killed her.
Based on reports, after the rape the lower part of Abeer’s body, from her stomach down to her feet, was set on fire. The fire eventually spread to the rest of the room and the smoke alerted neighbors who ran to tell Abu Firas Janabi, Abeer’s uncle, that the farmhouse was on fire and that dead bodies could be seen inside the burning building. Janabi and his wife rushed to the farmhouse and doused some of the flames to get inside. Upon witnessing the scene inside, Janabi went to a checkpoint guarded by Iraqi soldiers to report the crime.
The Iraqi soldiers immediately went to examine the scene and thereafter went to a checkpoint manned by U.S. soldiers to report the incident. This was a different checkpoint than the one manned by the accused. After approximately an hour, some soldiers from the checkpoint went to the farmhouse.
These soldiers were accompanied by at least one of the accused.
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[edit] Retaliation
On July 11, the Mujahideen Shura Council (now a part of the group, Islamic State of Iraq) released a graphic video showing the bodies of PFC Thomas Lowell Tucker and PFC Kristian Menchaca, soldiers from the same unit as the accused, who were allegedly kidnapped, tortured and beheaded. This was accompanied by a statement saying that the group carried out the killings as "revenge for our sister who was dishonored by a soldier of the same brigade."
It also said that upon learning of the rape/murder, the group "kept their anger to themselves and didn't spread the news, but were determined to avenge their sister's honor." A statement issued along with the video stated that "God Almighty enabled them to capture two soldiers of the same brigade as this dirty crusader."
Steven Green was arrested in North Carolina while travelling home from the funeral of one of the soldiers in Arlington, Virginia.
[edit] Legal proceedings
Four of the accused have been through courts-martial.
[edit] Spc. James Barker
On November 15, 2006, Spc. Barker pleaded guilty to rape and murder as part of a plea agreement requiring him to give evidence against the other soldiers to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to 90 years in prison, and must serve 20 years before being considered for parole. He wept during closing statements, and accepted responsibility for the rape and killings, saying the violence he had encountered in Iraq left him "angry and mean" toward Iraqis.[8]
[edit] Sgt. Paul E. Cortez
On January 22, 2007, Sgt. Cortez pleaded guilty in a court martial to rape, conspiracy to rape, and four counts of murder as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.[9] Sgt. Cortez was sentenced by a court martial to 100 years in prison for the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family last year. He will be eligible for parole in 10 years. Cortez, 24, also was given a dishonorable discharge. Cortez wept as he apologized for the crimes, saying he could not explain why he took part.[10]
[edit] Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman
On August 3, 2007, Pfc. Spielman, 23, was sentenced by a court martial to 110 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. He was convicted of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts of felony murder. Spielman had earlier pleaded guilty to lesser charges of conspiracy to obstructing justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse and drinking.[11]
[edit] Pfc. Bryan L. Howard
Pfc. Howard was sentenced by a court martial under a plea agreement to dishonorable discharge and 27 months imprisonment for obstruction of justice and being an accessory after the fact. The court found that his involvement included hearing the others discussing the crime and lying to protect them, but not commission of the actual rape or murders.[12] [13]
[edit] Pfc. Steven D. Green
Pfc. Green will be tried in federal court in Kentucky, with the trial scheduled to be tried beginning April 27, 2009.[14]Green has pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of murder and sexual assault.[15]
[edit] Film
The 2007 fictional movie Redacted is loosely based upon the events at Mahmudiyah.
[edit] References
- ^ Soldier: 'Death walk' drives troops 'nuts'. August 8, 2006.
- ^ US soldier jailed for Iraq murder. BBC News. February 23 2007.
- ^ a b Federal court to try ex-soldier on Iraq charges. July 06, 2006.
- ^ U.S. military names soldiers charged in rape, murder probe. CNN. July 10, 2006.
- ^ U.S. Solider Charged With Murdering and Raping Iraqi Civilians. U.S. v. Steven D. Green. June 30, 2006.
- ^ a b Two dead soldiers, eight more to go, vow avengers of Iraqi girl's rape. The Telegraph. Akeel Hussein in Mahmoudiyah and Colin Freeman.
- ^ A Soldier's Shame. TIME. July 09, 2006.
- ^ "Iraq rape soldier given life sentence". Guardian Unlimited (2006-11-17). Retrieved on 2007-11-01.
- ^ "US soldier admits murdering girl". BBC News (2007-02-22). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ "US soldier jailed for 100 years for rape". The Daily Telegraph (2007-02-25). Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ "110-Year Sentence in Iraq Rape-Killing". ABC News (2007-08-04). Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ^ "Huffman soldier sentenced in Iraq atrocities". Houston Chronicle (2007-03-22). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ "US prosecutors seek death penalty in Iraq murders". Reuters (2007-07-03). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ "Attorneys: Former soldier may use insanity defense". Fort Mill Times (2008-05-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ "Soldier testifies another soldier admitted to attack on family". International Herald Tribune (2007-07-31). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- Washington Post article about Berker's court martial trial.
- Washington Post article about former Pvt. Green.
