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"Because Every Detainee Is Important . . . . "

By Alexa

A civilian CIA contractor accused of beating an Afghan detainee who later died in custody was found guilty of assault. David Passaro is the first person affiliated with the spy agency to be convicted in a post-September 11 abuse case.

As we have so often read of other murderers, he "looked just like the guy next door."

Passaro has a long history of violent behavior, spousal and otherwise. You didn't have to look hard or look long into his background to see what the CIA didn't, or chose not see:  In a position of interrogating detainees, the chances that Passaro would not abuse his authority and abuse those he had authority of were unlikely at best.

A 40-year-old former police officer sent by the CIA to Afghanistan, Passaro was accused of beating Abdul Wali during an interrogation in 2003 by hitting him with a flashlight and kicking him. Wali, suspected of firing rockets at a US military base, died from his wounds.

And some Faux News watchin' folks asked why Passaro was charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
Perhaps you've asked yourself why David Passaro, of all the possible number of people involved in just such incidents in Afghanistan--where the number of deaths under interrogation goes into, I believe, at least the tens of thousands -- was indicted? A excellently researched and reported story in the WaPo by Susan Schmidt and Dana Priest gives one possible answer.

The person killed in that incident was a man called Abdul Wali who last June 21 voluntarily gave himself up for questioning at the CIA/Special Forces base at Asadabad--and he had been accompanied to the base by the Hyder Akbar, the 18-year-old, US-educated son of a nearby, US-installed provincial governor, Sayed Fazl Akbar.

Hyder Akbar, reminds us that every detainee is important. Akbar told NPR:

The cause of his death was at first reported to be a heart attack, but this came into question when three members of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division came forward to testify that CIA contractor David Passaro assaulted Wali. Passaro, a former Special Forces medic who worked under contract with the CIA, is the first civilian to be charged with abusing a detainee in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Passaro beat Abdul Wali for two consecutive nights, leading him to plead with prison guards to shoot him to end his suffering. Among other injuries, Wali suffered a suspected fractured pelvis that would have made it impossible for him to urinate. Passaro was also said to have kicked Abdul Wali in the groin in a football style kick that sent Wali in the air.

Passaro worked at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan that was frequently subject to rocket attacks. Wali, a suspect in the attacks, turned himself in voluntarily at the gates of the base and was then interrogated. After Wali lost consciousness, Passaro performed mouth-to-mouth in an unsuccessful bid to revive him.

Passaro was charged with two counts of assault using his hands/feet and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (the flashlight) on Wali in June 2003.

Wali's story in part was told on National Public Radio by Hyder Akbar for the show This American Life. Hyder escorted Wali to the US forces as a sign of protection and good will, as Hyder's father was governor of the Hunar province under which the incidents happened. Some time after Hyder left, Wali died, and Hyder and his father were told about it later.

Justice Department officials said that Passaro was charged with assault rather than murder because no autopsy had been performed on Wali that would have established the cause of death.

From Hyder Akbar's recorded statements:

Sayed Fazl Akbar, speaking into his son's tape recorder, said he asked the Americans to hold off using military force to capture Wali, who he said "had been on the Americans' and the coalition force's most-wanted list for cooperating with terrorists or being a terrorist." Wali was deeply fearful of turning himself in to the Americans, said the elder Akbar, so Akbar sent his son to go with him "as a sign of trust."

Said Hyder Akbar: "So I took him to the Americans. And, like, they're asking him where he was 14 days ago on the night of the three rockets. And this guy, like, don't have calendars, you know? . . . I just put my hand on his shoulder and I let him know: 'Just say the truth. Nothing is going to happen if you just say the truth.' And he was absolutely petrified, and he could barely whisper the okay."

Three days later, Hyder Akbar and his father returned to Asadabad to check on Wali. A translator named Steve and another American named Dave sat down with them, according to Hyder Akbar, and said, "Unfortunately, Abdul Wali passed away." Hyder Akbar said: "My jaw dropped. It's like 'Oh, my God.' . . . They said that at 3:30, 4, he just collapsed and they tried to make him stand again. And he stood for a second, but then he fell again and then they did the whole routine with the CPR and they said no expenses were held, just like they would have treated an American life."
Hyder Akbar said the Americans told him Wali was well treated, but that he had "put rocks in his mouth," tried to break free of his shackles and "hit his head against the wall a couple of times." Akbar said he was taken to see the body and saw no marks on Wali.
"It's hard not to feel responsible," Akbar said. "Poor guy was only 28. He was just so scared."

Justice has been served to David Passaro, unless you're a bad-tempered bitchy person like your humble diarist, who's angry that this murderer wasn't charged with murder.

Even more amazing is that Passaro was charged at all . . . and if not for the Hyder and family connection, I don't think that would have ever happened.

Today is Day 2,863 of illegal imprisonment at Guantanamo.

Let that sink in for a minute. How many others have been murdered? How many are being tortured right now?

You can help, if you will take five minutes a day to keep their names online and in memory.

"I was beaten and verbally abused in detention. After a few days, the guards asked me, 'Do you know that your name is all over the Internet?'

After that, I was treated better by the guards before being released. The appeals sent by Amnesty members definitely had an effect on my case."

--Rehab Abdel Bagi Mohamed Ali, former Guantanamo detainee

For the most comprehensive list of detainee names online, please visit Cage Prisoners. Every thing you do, no matter how small it may seem, helps make a difference.

Full post as published by Never In Our Names on October 30, 2008 (boomark / email).