Translated material
Raped and killed
US soldiers talk about "exploits" in Iraq
Yesterday, closed hearings began in Baghdad into the murder and rape of 14-year-old Iraqi girl Abeer Qassem Hamza al-Janabi, as well as the murder of her parents and six-year-old sister by five American soldiers (previously, the US command stated that the victim was 20 or 25 years old) . The crime was committed on March 12 in the city of Mahmudiya. There are four rapists in the dock. The case of the fifth, Stephen Green, who was mobilized “due to mental disabilities,” is being considered by a federal court in North Carolina.The soldiers face the death penalty. Their colleague, who knew about the intentions of the five, but did not inform the command about them, was also put on trial for violation of military duty. According to the FBI, the defendants approached the victim after drinking and changing clothes. And then they tried to burn the house and the corpses, hiding the traces of the crime.
Yesterday, an Iraqi doctor who was the first to examine the corpses spoke at the hearing. The name of the witness has not been released, but he said he still feels bad remembering what he saw. All family members, including a six-year-old child, were shot in the head.
The hearings in Iraq will last four days, and the soldiers themselves will talk about their “exploits.” The US command fears that if the Iraqis consider the verdict lenient, the Iraqi authorities will demand a revision of the agreement on judicial immunity for the American military. Indeed, in connection with the US withdrawal of its signature from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, criminal prosecution of Americans abroad is carried out on the basis of US agreements with foreign governments on the transfer of cases to American courts. The current trial of US soldiers is the fifth and most high-profile in Iraq. The country's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has already spoken about an independent investigation and deprivation of foreign military personnel of immunity from Iraqi justice.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent a letter to the UN Security Council with a request to extend the mandate of the UN Mission in Iraq, which expires on August 11, citing “complex political, security and economic problems” in Iraq.