Thursday, Aug 25, 2005
U.S. soldiers' terms lenient, feels Kabul
KABUL: Afghan human rights officials on Wednesday described as "unbelievably lenient" the sentences U.S. military courts have handed down to American soldiers convicted of abusing two Afghan detenus who later died. One soldier has been sentenced to two months in prison, another to three months.
A third was demoted and given a letter of reprimand and a fine. A fourth was given a reduction in rank and pay.
"These punishments are a joke. They all should have got 20 years in prison or be sentenced to death," said Ahmad Shah Midad, a member of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. "A person's life has been taken. They must be punished properly."
The courts-martial had occurred in the U.S. state of Texas over the past few weeks. The soldiers were charged in relation to the deaths of two Afghans who were in detention at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, in late 2002.
One of the two was a 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar. The other was Mullah Habibullah, who was about 30.
The Army has acknowledged the two deaths and announced in October that up to 28 U.S. soldiers face possible charges.
According to Human Rights Watch, which said it had obtained unreleased Army reports about the deaths, the two men were chained to the ceiling in standing positions, one at the waist and one by the wrists, while their feet remained on the ground.
One of them was maimed over a five-day period, dying with his leg muscle tissue destroyed from blows to the knees and lower body, the New York-based rights group has said. A spokesman for the Afghan human rights commission, a state-funded body, said the sentences were "disappointing". — AP
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