Probe of Afghan deaths names 28 U.S. soldiers
Military officials say some may face serious criminal charges
From Barbara Starr
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Twenty-eight U.S. soldiers have been named in an Army investigation into the December 2002 deaths of two Afghan detainees in American custody in Bagram, Afghanistan.
The Army Criminal Investigation Command Division report has been forwarded to Army unit commanders for possible action against the soldiers. Possible offenses include involuntary manslaughter, assault and battery, maiming, maltreatment, dereliction of duty and conspiracy, according to the Army.
Military coroners ruled in December 2002 that cause of death was homicide due to blunt force trauma in both deaths.
The death certificate for a detainee identified only as Dilawar noted that the "mode of death" was "homicide" with "blunt force injuries to lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease."
The death certificate for the other detainee, identified as Habibullah, listed the cause of death as homicide with "pulmonary embolism due to blunt force injury to the legs."
Under Army procedures, the names of the soldiers will not be made public. But military officials said at least 10 of the 28 soldiers named in the report could face serious criminal charges. The report names both enlisted personnel and officers.
Court-martial could follow
Commanders have several options they can take next: They can do nothing, can take administrative disciplinary action or can refer the report evidence to an Article 32 hearing, a military hearing that eventually can lead to a court-martial, or trial by a military tribunal.
The number of soldiers named is the largest so far in any criminal probe of detainee abuse in Afghanistan and possibly in Iraq, officials said, although other probes are ongoing in both countries.
Military officials said some of the soldiers named in the report served in the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion that later oversaw interrogations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where there were charges of prisoner abuse.
Others are from the 377th Military Police Company, an Army reserve unit from Ohio. Those reservists have been demobilized and will have to be brought back on active duty if further action is taken against them, according to military officials.
The cases of reservists who may have finished their military obligations will be referred to the Justice Department, which will bring them back within military jurisdiction.
One reservist was charged this year near the end of his tour of duty. On August 20, charges were preferred against Sgt. James P. Boland of the 377th Military Police Company.
A military charge sheet says Boland:
failed to discipline an Army specialist who unlawfully struck Habibullah while he was restrained.failed to seek medical attention for Dilawar "who was visibly in need of medical care and later died."shackled both men in a standing position with hands suspended above their shoulders for a prolonged period of time.
