Military won’t charge US contractors detained after alleged shootings in Iraq
29 March 2006
RENO, Nevada - The US military will not charge 16 American security contractors who were held by Marines in Iraq last summer for allegedly shooting at civilians and US forces, a Navy spokesman said.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service closed its criminal investigation “for lack of prosecutive merit,” NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said Tuesday in Washington. “There is not enough to go forward to seek charges.”
The contractors were detained for three days in May because they were suspected of firing on Iraqi civilians’ cars and US forces in Fallujah, the Marines said at the time.
The security guards, who worked for Zapata Engineering based in Charlotte, North Carolina, denied firing any shots.
“They are cleared as much as you’re ever cleared,” said Mark Schopper, a Reno attorney representing four of the men. “Now they can go on with their lives again.”
Several of the contractors said they were heckled, humiliated and physically abused by Marines who treated them like terrorists while they were held at Camp Fallujah with insurgents.
The NCIS did not investigate those claims, Buice said. The Marines deny the men were abused while detained.
“It’s just a world of relief,” said Peter Ginter, a 30-year-old ex-Marine who said he was kicked and had his head bounced off the pavement during his detention.
“We knew we were innocent and had been persecuted for something we didn’t do,” he said by telephone from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Maj. Gen. S.T. Johnson informed the contractors in a May 28 letter that they had been banned from all US installations in Iraq because their convoy was speeding through Fallujah and “firing shots indiscriminately.”
“Your actions endangered the lives of innocent Iraqis and US service members in the area,” Johnson wrote.
Matt Raiche, another contractor who lives in Dayton, Nevada, said the Marines intimidated them with dogs and made them strip.
“There should not have been any investigation at all,” said Raiche, 34. “We asked them what we were accused of and they would never say a word to us. All we heard was some guards talking, saying we were mercenaries.”
Officials at Zapata did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
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RENO, Nevada - The US military will not charge 16 American security contractors who were held by Marines in Iraq last summer for allegedly shooting at civilians and US forces, a Navy spokesman said.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service closed its criminal investigation “for lack of prosecutive merit,” NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said Tuesday in Washington. “There is not enough to go forward to seek charges.”
The contractors were detained for three days in May because they were suspected of firing on Iraqi civilians’ cars and US forces in Fallujah, the Marines said at the time.
The security guards, who worked for Zapata Engineering based in Charlotte, North Carolina, denied firing any shots.
“They are cleared as much as you’re ever cleared,” said Mark Schopper, a Reno attorney representing four of the men. “Now they can go on with their lives again.”
Several of the contractors said they were heckled, humiliated and physically abused by Marines who treated them like terrorists while they were held at Camp Fallujah with insurgents.
The NCIS did not investigate those claims, Buice said. The Marines deny the men were abused while detained.
“It’s just a world of relief,” said Peter Ginter, a 30-year-old ex-Marine who said he was kicked and had his head bounced off the pavement during his detention.
“We knew we were innocent and had been persecuted for something we didn’t do,” he said by telephone from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Maj. Gen. S.T. Johnson informed the contractors in a May 28 letter that they had been banned from all US installations in Iraq because their convoy was speeding through Fallujah and “firing shots indiscriminately.”
“Your actions endangered the lives of innocent Iraqis and US service members in the area,” Johnson wrote.
Matt Raiche, another contractor who lives in Dayton, Nevada, said the Marines intimidated them with dogs and made them strip.
“There should not have been any investigation at all,” said Raiche, 34. “We asked them what we were accused of and they would never say a word to us. All we heard was some guards talking, saying we were mercenaries.”
Officials at Zapata did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
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posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 12:41 AM
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