The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights was part of a legal team that last year filed suit against North Carolina-based private security contractor Blackwater for its role in the mass shooting of Iraqi civilians.

Now the nonprofit law firm is targeting three other contractors based in the South -- this time over torture inside Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Yesterday CCR announced that it was suing CACI International and CACI Premier Technology Inc. of Arlington, Va., along with an Alexandria-based division of L-3 Communications Corp. It's also suing three individual contractors: Adel Nakhla of Maryland, a translator with L-3, then known as the Titan Corp.; Timothy Dugan of Ohio, a CACI screener and interrogator; and Daniel E. Johnson of Seattle, also a CACI interrogator.

"Private military contractors and the individuals they employ cannot act with impunity," said CCR attorney Katherine Gallagher in a statement. "Contractors must act within the bounds of law and must be held accountable for their participation in the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and the other facilities in Iraq. We believe their actions and the acts of torture of their employees clearly violated the Geneva Conventions, the Army Field Manual, and the laws of the United States."

The lawsuits were filed in federal court on behalf of the following Iraqi civilians:

* Mohammed Abdwaihed Towfek Al-Taee, a 39-year-old taxi driver who alleges abuse during a nine-month detention and who later learned that he was probably turned in by a customer seeking U.S. payment for intelligence tips.

* Wissam Abdullateef Sa’eed Al-Quraishi, a 37-year-old who was allegedly hung on a pole for seven days and subjected to beatings, forced nudity, electrical shocks, humiliating treatment, mock executions and other forms of torture.

* Sa’adoon Ali Hameed Al-Ogaidi, a 36-year-old Arabic teacher and shopkeeper who was allegedly held for a year during which he was caged, abused, stripped and kept naked, and who for a time was hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

* Suhail Najim Abdullah Al-Shimari, a farmer who was held for more than four years and allegedly caged, menaced with dogs, subjected to beatings and electrical shocks, and threatened with death and being sent to a "far away" place.

CCR was founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South. Other firms involved in the lawsuit over contractor torture are Burke O'Neil of Philadelphia and Akeel & Valentine of Troy, Mich. For more details on the allegations, click here.

Labels: blackwater, CACI, center for constitutional rights, contracting, iraq, L-3, military, torture, virginia

There have been fresh developments in two high-profile cases of dog abuse by men in uniform -- incidents that just happened to be caught on camera.

Last week, an administrative law judge in North Carolina issued an advisory ruling calling for reinstatement with back pay for a state Highway Patrol trooper fired after being filmed via a colleague's cellphone kicking his police dog while it was tied to a loading dock. The judge ruled that the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety acted improperly when it fired Trooper Charles Jones without giving him a chance to explain his actions.

Jones has said he was trying to get the Belgian Malinois named Ricoh to let go of a fire-hose toy it had been given as a reward for finding drugs during an exercise. The trooper maintained that his actions were not abusive and that Highway Patrol trainers had routinely subjected the dogs to rough treatment. Ricoh is now retired and living with another trooper.

Judge Fred Morrison called on North Carolina to stop using dogs for law enforcement unless it obtains animals that have already been trained and assigns them to troopers who've also been trained. In addition, the judge said the state should give troopers written instructions for handling their dogs. The ruling now goes to the State Personnel Commission for a final decision.

And in an update of a story we reported on earlier this year, the U.S. Marine Corps has announced it will expel one man and discipline another for their involvement in dog abuse caught on camera in Iraq. A videotape that surfaced on the Internet in March showed one smiling Marine tossing a puppy over a cliff while the person operating the video camera laughs and a voice says, "That's mean, Motari."

USMC Base Hawaii announced that Lance Corporal David Motari is being processed for separation from the Corps. He also received undisclosed non-judicial punishment along with San Diego-based Sgt. Crismarvin Banez Encarnacion. According to a USMC statement:

The Marine Corps conducted a thorough investigation as soon as it learned of the event and acted as swiftly as possible. The actions seen in the Internet video are contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine and will not be tolerated. The vast majority of Marines conduct their duties with honor and compassion that makes American people proud.

The Humane Society of the United States praised the USMC for its actions in the case. It also reiterated its call for call for a broad animal cruelty prohibition in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Since mid-2005, the HSUS and its international affiliate have written to the U.S. Defense Department four times about incidents of animal cruelty linked to Americans in combat zones. HSUS has raised concerns about the well-documented connection between animal cruelty and human violence, including battery and sexual assault.

(The photo of Jones kicking Ricoh is a screen-capture of a cellphone video shot by another state trooper and posted to the Raleigh News & Observer Web site. The screen shot of the Marine and puppy was taken from a YouTube video that has since been removed for violating the site's posting policies.)

Labels: animal cruelty, criminal justice, friday dogblogging, Humane Society of the United States, iraq, military, north carolina, North Carolina Highway Patrol, soldiers' mental health, U.S. Marine Corps

That's the question posed in an article published today by CommonDreams.org and written by Ann Wright, a veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and a former U.S. diplomat who resigned from the State Department in 2003 over her opposition to the Iraq war. She discusses 15 cases involving deaths of women soldiers in Iraq following rapes that have been classified as suicides but which occurred under, as she writes, "extremely suspicious circumstances":

8 women soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas (six from the Fourth Infantry Division and two from the 1st Armored Cavalry Division) have died of "non-combat related injuries" on the same base, Camp Taji, and three were raped before their deaths. Two were raped immediately before their deaths and another raped prior to arriving in Iraq. Two military women have died of suspicious "non-combat related injuries" on Balad base, and one was raped before she died. Four deaths have been classified as "suicides."

One of the suspicious deaths was that of U.S. Army Private LaVena Johnson in July 2005. The Army said Johnson died of a self-inflicted M-16 shot, but her parents were suspicious, since she called home daily and gave no impression of being upset. They were also concerned about bruising on her face, as well as a bullet wound that looked more like it had come from a pistol than an M-16 -- as well as the fact that someone had glued white gloves on her hands, which had been burned.

As Johnson's family and friends began collecting evidence through the Freedom of Information Act and other sources, their suspicions grew. It turns out the young woman's M-16 was found perfectly parallel to her body -- which was found inside a burning tent. A witness said he heard a gunshot and when he went to check found the tent on fire and a body inside. And then they found a CD of photographs:

The photographs revealed that Lavena, a small woman, barely 5 feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, perhaps a weapon stock. Her nose was broken and her teeth knocked backwards. One elbow was distended. The back of her clothes had debris on them indicating she had been dragged from one location to another. The photographs of her disrobed body showed bruises, scratch marks and teeth imprints on the upper part of her body. The right side of her back as well as her right hand had been burned apparently from a flammable liquid poured on her and then lighted. The photographs of her genital area revealed massive bruising and lacerations. A corrosive liquid had been poured into her genital area, probably to destroy DNA evidence of sexual assault.

Despite the bruises, scratches, teeth imprints and burns on her body, Lavena was found completely dressed in the burning tent. There was a blood trail from outside a contractor’s tent to inside the tent. She apparently had been dressed after the attack and her attacker placed her body into the tent and set it on fire.

Investigator records reveal that members of her unit said Lavena told them she was going jogging with friends on the other side of the base. One unit member walked with her to the Post Exchange where she bought a soda and then, in her Army workout clothes, went on by herself to meet friends and get exercise. The unit member said she was in good spirits with no indication of personal emotional problems.

The Army investigators initially assumed Private Johnson's death was a homicide and indicated that on their paperwork. However, shortly into the investigation, a decision apparently was made by higher officials that the investigators must stop the investigation into a homicide and to classify her death a suicide.

As a result, no further investigation took place into a possible homicide despite strong evidence available to the investigators.

Other stories recounted by Wright are just as shocking. She is calling on Congress to demand further investigation into the women's deaths. All Americans should join her in that call.

(Photo of LaVena Johnson courtesy of www.lavenajohnson.com)

Labels: Ann Wright, LaVena Johnson, military, violence against women

In last week's installment of Friday dogblogging, we brought you a feel-good story about a program that rescues dogs that have become companions of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. This week we have a sad report about soldiers' alleged mistreatment of animals.

The U.S. military is investigating the posting to YouTube of a video that shows a Marine in full combat gear apparently throwing a puppy off a desert cliff. The Web site has removed the video for violating its terms of use, but it reportedly captured the black-and-white animal yelping as it flies through the air.

The man in the video is stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, which is leading the investigation. According to a statement posted to the base's Web site:

MCBH learned of the video Monday morning and immediately began an investigation to confirm the authenticity of the video and the persons responsible for the video. The investigation will be thorough and will examine each person involved. Upon completion of the investigation, it will be reviewed by each Marine's commander who will determine the appropriate action to take in each case.

The Humane Society of the United States sent a letter about the incident to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- the fourth that HSUS and Humane Society International have sent to the Defense Department since mid-2005 about instances of animal cruelty linked to Americans in the war zone. In an earlier missive, HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle asked the department to insert an explicit prohibition and punishment for animal cruelty into the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In the latest letter, Pacelle asked Gates to take steps to raise awareness of the relationship between cruelty to animals and socially maladapted behavior:

Such instances of cruelty are objectionable in their own right, but take on special urgency as we welcome American military personnel home from the war zone. While only a few incidents of this kind have come to light, we worry about the psychological stability of those who could perpetrate such vicious acts against the most vulnerable of creatures.

The incident has also provoked viciousness in some of those concerned about the puppy's welfare. The Marine shown in the video and his extended family have received threats of death and physical violence, with his sister telling the press that the family is "living in a nightmare."

The Marine Corps invites people concerned about the incident to visit its Web site here, click on the e-mail link at the bottom of the page, and leave a comment. Those comments, it says, will be compiled in a database "for use regarding this situation."


In other dog news, the last state in the nation without felony dogfighting laws has finally passed a law imposing tough penalties for the crime. Think that state was in the South, where some have claimed dogfighting is an intrinsic part of the culture?

If so, think again. It was Wyoming.

Labels: animal cruelty, criminal justice, friday dogblogging, iraq, military, soldiers' mental health

This Valentine's Day, a black and white border collie arrived at Dulles Airport from Iraq, where he had been found months earlier by Sgt. Edward Watson during a patrol. Weak and malnourished, the shivering puppy looked near death, but Watson gave it water and a portion of his rations and wrapped it in a blanket. To his delight, the animal rallied back to health and bonded with Watson and his fellow soldiers, who named him Charlie after their company. The dog became their mascot and morale booster, a symbol of love and compassion in the midst of violence.

But when it came time for Watson's company to move to a different location, they couldn't take Charlie along. Eventually the crisis came to the attention of the SPCA International, which helped coordinate the dog's transport to the United States -- a complex and costly process involving veterinary exams, behavioral evaluations, vaccinations, quarantines and a flight that can cost as much as $1,200. Watson is scheduled to fly back to the United States next month, and after a three-month stay at Fort Bragg in North Carolina will return home to Phoenix and reunite with Charlie.

Meanwhile, the effort to save Charlie from a life as a homeless dog in a war zone has turned into an ongoing program called Operation Baghdad Pups, which aims to keep U.S. soldiers from being separated from the animals that have become their companions. Other dogs rescued by the program include Liberty, who was adopted by U.S. soldiers after a house raid in which the owner was detained, and K-Pot, who was found tangled in razor wire. The program is accepting donations to help rescue other soldiers' adopted dogs; for more information, visit www.baghdadpups.com.

(Photo from www.baghdadpups.com)

Labels: friday dogblogging, iraq, military, soldiers' mental health, spca