Habibullah

Habibullah was an Afghani who died while in US custody on December 4 2005.cite web
url=http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/507284_Tables
title=Medical Investigations of Homicides of Prisoners of War in Iraq and Afghanistan
publisher=Medscape
accessdate=2007-09-14] His death was one of those classed as a homicide, though the initial military statement will describe his death as due to natural causes.cite news
url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/dec2002/afgh-d11.shtml
title=Detainee Dies During US Interrogation in Afghanistan
publisher=World Socialist Web Site",
date=December 11 2002
accessdate=2007-09-14]

Habibullah was an Islamic clergyman, a Mullah.

Habibullah's brother was a Taliban leader.cite news
url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2003/03/04/MN204728.DTL
title=U.S. examines death of Afghan in custody: Pathologist described it as a homicide
publisher=San Francisco Chronicle
date=March 4 2005
accessdate=2007-09-14] Carlotta Gall the New York Times reporter in Afghanistan was the first to discover the story in 2003.Captain Carolyn Wood, commander of Alpha Company of the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion andCaptain Christopher Beiring, commander of the 377th Military Police Company directed their troops, at the Bagram Collection Point, to confine their captives with their arms handcuffed above their heads in order to deprive them of sleep.cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28737-2005Mar12.html
title=2 Died After '02 Beatings by U.S. Soldiers
publisher=Washington Post
date=March 12 2005
accessdate=2007-09-14] Lt. Gen. Daniel K. McNeill was later quoted in the press denying that Bagram prisoners had been chained to the ceiling or held in chains attached to the ceiling.Their troops routinely kneed their captives in the side of their thighs. They called these "compliance blows". During a Criminal Investigation Division inquiry their troops claimed they had been told -- incorrectly -- that this kind of blow was a legal, authorized use of force.

Habibullah's autopsy was performed two days after his death, and classed his death as a homicide.cite web
url=http://action.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/102405/3146.pdf
title=Autopsy report
publisher=American Civil Liberties Union
accessdate=2007-09-14] Dr. Ingwerson said the cause of death was "Pulmonary embolism due to blunt force injury to the legs."But this did not prevent the GIs staffing the prison from continuing to use these "compliance blows", and a second Afghani, named Dilawar died four days later, on December 10 2005, under practically identical circumstances. Dr. Elizabeth Rouse, the coroner for Dilawar, the other murder victim, said she had seen similar damage to a man whose legs had been run over by a bus.cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1373687.htm
title=Leaked papers document Afghan prisoner abuse
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
date=May 20 2005
accessdate=2007-09-14]

No one was charged with murder in either Habibullah or Dilawar's case because prosecutors were unable to determine which of the hundreds of blows was the fatal blow.

References

External links

* [http://www.cjr.org/issues/2006/5/Umansky.asp Failures of Imagination] , "Columbia Journalism Review", 2005, issue 5