Case opens in treatment of Iraqis
Marine major first to face charges arising from actions on prisoners
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 18, 2003
CAMP PENDLETON ? The first of eight cases against Marines charged with abusing ? and in one case killing ? Iraqi prisoners went to court here yesterday.
Maj. William Vickers is charged with failing to obey an order or regulation for allegedly allowing his men to mistreat prisoners while he was in charge of a small detention facility outside Nasiriyah, about 180 miles southeast of Baghdad.
The charges against the eight range from dereliction of duty to negligent homicide.
"This is a case, a situation about what is right and what is wrong when it comes to dealing with civilian detainees and prisoners of war when the United States is operating in a combat zone," Capt. Jamie McCall, a prosecutor in the case, said in opening statements.
Jane Siegel, Vickers' civilian defense attorney, said her client did the best he could after being stuck in a job that he was wasn't trained for and one that one else wanted.
"Vickers was just the guy who came up and got tagged for it," said Siegel, a retired Marine colonel in legal services. "No one could get any information on how to run the detention facility . . . Like any good Marine, he was trying to get the job done."
The case against Vickers, 36, is that he knew his guards were employing the "50/10 technique," in which prisoners were forced to stand for 50 minutes of every hour for 10 or more straight hours in heat sometimes topping 120 degrees.
For about six weeks starting in mid-April 2003, Vickers was in charge of the detention facility.
Former guards testified yesterday that new prisoners were handcuffed and a sandbag placed over their heads. Then they were forced to stand for hours until interrogators from the "Human Exploitation Team" arrived to question them.
After questioning, the prisoners were usually not treated like that again, they testified.
"The question is, does prolonged standing and sleep deprivation constitute a low-grade torture?" asked Maj. Mark K. Jamison, a legal officer from Camp Pendleton. "If so, usually the person in charge is responsible."
Two former guards who testified doubted that the technique used to make prisoners more likely to talk was inhumane.
"All we asked them to do was stand for a period of time," said Cpl. Otis Antoine, who was a guard for Vickers. U.S. "soldiers over there got tortured and killed, but they were just asked to stand."
The charges against Vickers and seven others arose after the death of Nagem Sadoon Hatab, a ranking Baath Party official, on June 6 at Camp Whilehorse.
An autopsy showed that Hatab, 52, died essentially from having his throat crushed.
Vickers was not in charge of the detention facility when Hatab died, but was charged, a Marine spokesman said, as a result of allegations by former guards about activities that occurred later.
He is the first of the eight Marines belonging to the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, a reserve unit based in New England, to have his case move forward in court. The Marines are being kept on active duty at Camp Pendleton while their cases are being handled.
Vickers' military preliminary hearing is expected to last through Friday, after which an investigative officer will recommend to 1st Marine Division commander Maj. Gen. James Mattis whether Vickers should be tried by the military.
Three of the Marine reservists already have been ordered to face special courts-martial for alleged abuse of detainees at the camp; however, they have not yet gone to court.
Hearings for the other four Marines are scheduled for January.
The current hearing is being presided over by Col. William Gallo.
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Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212;
rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
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Sempers,
Roger