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Saturday, October 18, 2003

Marine reservists under investigation for death of Iraqi POW

Associated Press
Camp Pendleton, October 18

Eight Marine reservists stationed at Camp Pendleton have been charged in
connection with the June death of an Iraqi man who was held at a detention
facility in Iraq, authorities said.

Two of the enlisted men, Maj. Clark A. Paulus and Lance Cpl. Christian
Hernandez, face negligent homicide charges, said staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon, a
Marine spokesman at Camp Pendleton.

Charges against the other six range from assault to dereliction of duty. "I
think it's surprising because this is not what Marines do," Lisbon said on
Friday.

"They don't do what these guys are being charged with."
All eight men, who belong to the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, are
being held at Camp Pendleton. It was not known late Friday who their lawyers
were.

Lisbon acknowledged the charges stemmed from a case in which an Iraqi man
died while being detained by US authorities. He would not, however, say
whether the case in question was that of a 52-year-old Iraqi prisoner of war
whose corpse was found June 6 at a camp run by the 1st Marine Division near
Nasiriyah.

The man had been held at the camp in southern Iraq since his capture on May
3.

Lisbon said Paulus and Hernandez also face lesser charges, including cruelty
and maltreatment, and assault.

Three others, Maj. William Vickers, Sgt. Gary Pittman and Lance Cpl. William
Roy, also faced charges ranging from dereliction of duty to cruelty.

The remaining three men, Sgt. Albert Rodriquez-Martinez, Lance Cpl. Andrew
Rodney and Lance Cpl. Konstantin Mikholap, are each charged with making
false official statements and assault, Lisbon said.

The cases will be examined by the military equivalent of a grand jury, which
will decide whether the men will be court-marshalled. Lisbon also would not
say when the unit was activated for duty or when it returned to the United
States. The unit is in New York, he said.

In a separate case, four military police from a Pennsylvania-based Army
Reserve unit were charged in July with punching, kicking and breaking bones
of prisoners at Camp Bucca, the largest US-run POW camp in Iraq. Those
soldiers and their families have denied the accusations.

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