Iraqi prisoner 'was beaten, kicked and left to die by Marines'

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/23/wirq23.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/23/ixnewstop.html

Harrowing details of the death of an Iraqi detainee who was repeatedly beaten and left lying naked in the baking sun for several hours emerged yesterday as US military authorities admitted that they were investigating nine suspected prisoner murders in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two US Marines face courts martial following the death last June of Sadoon Hatab, who was alleged to have links to the Ba'ath Party of Saddam Hussein, although earlier charges of negligent homicide have been dropped.

One of the marines, Major Clarke Paulus, has been charged with dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and assault, and faces up to five years in prison in connection with Hatab's death.

Hatab, 52, died in a makeshift holding centre near the southern city of Nasiriya - an indication that prisoner abuse took place across the network of jails and detention centres established by US and British forces in Iraq.

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[mike_c]

1. the hypocrisy goes on and on....

Two white guys torture and beat an Arab Muslim to death in a process that takes many hours, including multiple beating sessions. That's first degree murder. If they were civilians-- and were caught-- it would be a hate crime and they'd both face life imprisonment or the death penalty, depending on where they committed the crime.

In the military, it's not premeditated murder, but "dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and assault," and ONE of the perpetrators faces up to five years in prison. That's wrong. They should both be held to at least as high a standard of conduct as any civilian would be, because they act in our names.