CIA Copy of Washington Post Article: Ashcroft Says U.S. Can Prosecute Civilian Contractors for Prison Abuse

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Ashcrdft Says U.S. Can Prosecute Civilian Contractors For Prison Abuse
Washington Post
May 7, 2004
Pg. 18
Ashcroft Says U.S. Can Prosecute Civilian Contractors For Prison
Abuse
By Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writers
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said yesterday that killings or abuse of military detainees in Iraq that
involved civilian contractors could be prosecuted by the Justice Department under several statutes,
including civil rights violations and anti-torture laws.
Federal criminal prosecutors can pursue cases against nonmilitary personnel and against those who have
left the military, Ashcroft said. In addition, Ashcroft and otherJustice Department officials said, the
Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 1999 allows for prosecution of civilian contractors who commit
crimes while working overseas for the military.
"We obviously are shocked by conduct which would violate the rights of the detainees, and we'll take
action where appropriate within the jurisdiction of the _Justice Department," Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft's comments came as the Bush administration struggled to control a widening scandal over the
treatment of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, where U.S. soldiers took photographs of naked
prisoners in degrading positions.
The CIA has referred two suspicious deaths of detainees to federal prosecutors, and the Justice Department
is examining the circumstances surrounding a third death, intelligence and law enforcement sources said.
Prosecutors in the Criminal Division are reviewing the reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib to determine
whether U.S. criminal laws might apply to any incidents, according to a Justice Department official who
declined to be identified because the inquiry is ongoing.
At a news conference here, Ashcroft declined to discuss any cases under review or to say whether the
Pentagon, which is probing the Abu Ghraib abuses and other incidents, has formally referred any cases to
his department.
"I do know that the Department of Defense is involved in a substantial investigation, and that it certainly
wouldn't be our intention to disrupt investigations underway by the Department of Defense," Ashcroft said.
Noting that his son serves in the Navy, Ashcroft said he was "shocked and appalled" by the incidents at
Abu Ghraib but also said he believed they were "anomalies."
A senior intelligence official, who would speak to a reporter only on the condition that he not be identified,
provided a general account yesterday of the three suspicious deaths involving CIA contractors.
One of the deaths in Abu Ghraib last November was an Iraqi who was captured and held by U.S. Navy
SEALs for what was believed to be anti-coalition activities, the official said. After "several stops" on the
day he was captured, the Iraqi, named Mana Jamidi, was brought to the prison for interrogation by a CIA a
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Ashcroft Says U.S. Can Prosecute Civilian Contractors For Prison Abuse
officer accompanied by a contractor-translator, according to the official.
During the questioning, Jamidi slumped over and died. An autopsy determined internal injuries were the
cause of death, the official said. After learning of the autopsy results in January, the CIA notified Congress
and, in February, sent a report to the Justice Department, the official said.
A second case occurred in June 2003, when an Afghani was interrogated in a facility near the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border by a CIA retiree who was acting as an independent contractor. The CIA
inspector general has been investigating the case, and Congress and the Justice Department were notified in
July 2003, according to the official.
The third case, also in November, involved former Gen. Abid Hamad Mahawish, who was interrogated by
a CIA officer in a military facility in western Iraq. Several days later, Mahawish died amid allegations he
had been mistreated, the official said.
The CIA inspector general and Army criminal investigators are probing the cause of death and Congress
was informed by the agency in January. The Mahawish case has not been referred to the Justice
Department, the intelligence official said.
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