US army covering up Iraqi prisoner deaths

The documents from the Army's Criminal Investigation Command that were released to the American Civil Liberties Union following a court order issued under the Freedom of Information Act.

"The files that we have obtained raise serious questions about obstruction of justice and whether government officials are acting with brazen impunity," said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero.

On August 8, 2003 US forces arrested one Obed Hethere Radad during a raid in the city of Tikrit, just north of Baghdad. According to the documents, a soldier on September 11, 2003 "shot and killed Radad without any advance warning. The (Criminal Investigation Command) ultimately determined that there was probable cause to charge the (soldier) with murder."

But officers on site only notified investigators four days after the incident. In the meantime a commander held a hearing and charged the soldier with voluntary manslaughter. The soldier was found guilty, demoted, and discharged from the service before the investigation even began.

"We are concerned that commanders short-circuited the investigation and prosecution of the Radad killing, rather than seeking full and fair justice," said ACLU attorney Omar Jadwat.

Other documents detail the military inquiry into the death of Abdureda Lafta Abdul Kareem, 44, who "appeared to be in good health" when he was arrested on December 5, 2003, and taken to a detention site near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Four days later he was found dead in his cell.

"The medic who examined him found multiple wounds, a laceration on his head surrounded by internal bleeding, bruising on his abdomen and a clear fluid in his right ear," the ACLU said.