USA-militärer mördade 24 civila – rättegång inledd

_{USA:s Militär anklagas för
massaker på 24 civila Irakier}

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5 Januari 2012
Efter sex år av förseningar och överklaganden, ställs nu den sista soldaten i en grupp av åtta inför rätta. Sergeant Frank Wuterich, anklagas för delaktighet i en massaker på 24 obeväpnade civila i Irak.


24 människor mördades under en militär hämndaktion i staden Haditha, även kvinnor och barn. Nu har fallet äntligen dykt upp i domstol sex år efter händelsen.
Åtal har tidigare lagts ner för sex av de inblandade militärerna, en har frikänts så nu återstår bara en att åtala.


Sergeant Frank Wuterich ställs inför rätta för den påstådda ”hämnden” och massakern i staden Haditha för sex år sedan.

Bakgrunden är att Amerikansk militär anklagas för att ha genomfört massakern som hämnd för att en amerikansk soldat dödats och flera sårats i närheten av staden.


Men allt eftersom tiden går och bevisen försvinner blir det svårare att ställa någon till svars för dådet.

Källa: Al Jazeeras Kimberly Halkett.

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Update 23 Januari 2012 (Engelsk text)

Marine pleads guilty to

Haditha killings

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Al Jazeera 23 Jan 2012

US marine Frank Wuterich accused of 2005 massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha pleads guilty to ‘negligence’.

A US Marine sergeant accused of leading a massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha pleaded guilty on Monday to negligence, ending the final prosecution stemming from a 2005 incident.

Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, the commander of a group of Marines whose other members have been exonerated, entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.

Wuterich was initially charged with murder.
A sentencing hearing will be held Tuesday, said a spokesman for Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles.

‘Shoot first, ask questions later’

”Staff Sergeant Wuterich accepted responsibility … and agreed and admits that he gave a verbal order to shoot first, ask questions later, or don’t hesitate to shoot, and words to that effect,” said spokesman Joe Koppel.

”That verbal instruction caused his Marines to [not] positively identify targets in the two homes. And now, at the sentencing phase, he’ll be held accountable for those actions.”
The victims included 10 women and children killed at point-blank range. Six people were killed in one house, most shot in the head, including women and children huddled in a bedroom.

The other seven Marines charged in the case have been exonerated through various legal rulings, fueling anger in Iraq, where authorities had pushed for US troops to be subject to 

Iraqi justice before the US pullout in December.
Wuterich now faces a maximum sentence of three months of confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and a reduction in rank when he is sentenced on Tuesday at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, a base spokesman said.

Lawyers for the troops involved argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving situation in which the Marines believed they were under enemy fire.
A military judge will now determine the sentencing, which will then go to Lieutenant General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command, for final adjudication.

The other Marines charged in the case have been exonerated through various legal rulings, fueling anger in Iraq (EPA)

- US marine to serve no time over Iraq killings

25 januari 2012.Al Jazeera
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was demoted to rank of private but will not go behind bars, a military spokesman said.

A US marine accused over the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha was demoted to the rank of private but will serve no time behind bars, a military spokesman has said.

Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the last squad member to face justice after all the others were cleared, was sentenced to 90 days confinement but he will not serve it for procedural reasons, the spokesman said.

The sentencing hearing was held on Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles.
Word of the maximum sentence sparked outrage in Iraq, where Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of the victims, called it ”an insult to all Iraqis” and ”solid proof that the Americans don’t respect human rights.”

Wuterich, 31, the commander of a unit whose other members have been exonerated, pleaded guilty on Monday to negligence, ending the final prosecution stemming from the 2005 incident.

He entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.
Wuterich was initially charged with murder.

”Staff Sergeant Wuterich accepted responsibility … and agreed and admits that he gave a verbal order to shoot first, ask questions later, or don’t hesitate to shoot, and words to that effect,” said spokesman Joe Koppel.

”That verbal instruction caused his marines to [not] positively identify targets in the two homes. And now, at the sentencing phase, he’ll be held accountable for those actions.”

- The victims included 10 women and children killed at point-blank range.

- Six people were killed in one house, most shot in the head, including women and children huddled in a bedroom.

The other seven soldiers charged in the case had been exonerated through various legal rulings, fuelling anger in Iraq, where authorities had pushed for US troops to be subject to Iraqi justice before the US pullout in December.

Lawyers for the troops involved argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving situation in which they believed they were under enemy fire.
”No one denies that the consequences of November 19, 2005 were tragic, least of all Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich,” his civilian defence attorney, Neal Puckett, said in a statement released shortly after the plea hearing.

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Editors Notes
UnderMattans redaktör löser världens problem!


Editors notes: (Sergeant Frank Wuterich borde åtminstone fått som straff att skriva följande mening 100 gånger på svarta tavlan:

-Jag skall inte mörda 24 människor fler gånger!, -Jag skall inte mörda 24 människor fler gånger!, -Jag skall inte mörda 24 människor fler gånger!,-Jag skall inte mörda 24 människor fler gånger!, osv…)

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