Military justice proceedings involving offenses against Iraqi and Afghan civilians.

• Author: Crook, John R.

Several U.S. military personnel have been convicted in U.S. military courts for offenses against Iraqi and Afghan civilians. In other cases, accused personnel have been acquitted or charges have been dropped.

Army Noncommissioned Officers Convicted in 2007 Murders of Iraqi Detainees. In February 2009, an Army court-martial in Germany convicted Sergeant Michael Leahy, an army medic, of murder and conspiracy in connection with the execution-style killings of four bound and blindfolded Iraqi detainees in March or April 2007. (1) Leahy and several other soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 18th Infantry were accused of blindfolding and shooting the Iraqis and then dumping their bodies into a canal in southwest Baghdad. (2) Leahy was sentenced to life imprisonment with possibility of parole. In March, Sergeant First Class Joseph Mayo pleaded guilty to murder for his participation in the same event and was sentenced to thirty-five years. (3) Earlier, two lower-ranking soldiers, Specialists Belmor Ramos and Steven Ribordy, pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced to seven and eight months and dishonorable discharges in connection with their roles in the killings. (4) Master Sergeant John Hatley, the senior NCO in the group, was convicted and sentenced to life, with possibility of parole in April 2009. (5)

Officer Convicted of Killing Detainee. In February 2009, a military jury at Fort Campbell, Kentucky convicted Army First Lieutenant Michael Behenna of assault and murder in the death of detainee Ali Mansour Mohammed, who was being held and interrogated in connection with an attack on U.S. soldiers. The court-martial panel rejected Behenna's claim to have acted in self-defense when Mohammed reached for a gun, and sentenced him to twenty-five years. (6) A second soldier, Staff Sergeant Hal Warner, testified against Behenna after pleading guilty to lesser changes stemming from the same incident. The U.S. Army brought changes against both soldiers in August 2008. (7) Both served in the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, at Forward Operating Base Summerall, about 130 miles north of Baghdad.

Specialist Convicted in Killing Civilian near Kirkuk. In February 2008, a court- martial in Hawaii convicted Army Specialist Christopher Shore of aggravated assault in connection with the death of an unarmed Iraqi civilian near Kirkuk in June 2007. Shore was acquitted of charges of third-degree murder. At his court-martial, Shore testified that the platoon...