Reservist: Knee blows that killed 2 detainees were approved

[paineinthearse]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/nation/11235395.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Reservist: Knee blows that killed 2 detainees were approved
Today's topic: Prison abuse hearings
By Elise Ackerman
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE

FORT BLISS, Texas - An Army reservist accused of killing a detainee in Afghanistan told investigators that the blows that caused the man's death were commonly used to deal with uncooperative prisoners and that his superiors approved of the technique. Other soldiers testified at a hearing here that they were taught to administer the so-called "compliance blows" in an Army course covering non-lethal tactics and that the blows became an accepted way of dealing with detainees who were considered "combative."

The statement from Pfc. Willie Brand and the testimony from his fellow soldiers provide new evidence that prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq might have been the result of interrogation and detention practices adopted for the war on terrorism. U.S. officials have insisted that abuse at U.S.-run prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq was the work of a few rogue soldiers. But human rights groups have charged that President Bush's February 2002 directive saying the Geneva Conventions didn't apply to members of al-Qaida or Taliban fighters led to pervasive mistreatment, first in Afghanistan and later at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere in Iraq.

Brand's statements were read aloud at a so-called Article 32 hearing intended to determine whether he should be court-martialed in the December 2002 deaths of two prisoners at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul in Afghanistan. Among the 11 counts facing Brand is one charge of involuntary manslaughter and one charge of maiming in one death. He also faces multiple charges of maltreatment and assault in the deaths of both prisoners. Army pathologists said the two detainees, identified as Habibullah and Dilawar, died as a result of repeated kneeings to their legs. The men died Dec. 4, 2002, and Dec. 10, 2002, respectively.

Brand, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in Dilawar's death, said in a sworn statement read at the hearing that sharply kneeing a suspect in the legs was a common technique used to subdue prisoners. He said he had used the technique to gain control of more than 20 detainees during his 10 months of service in Afghanistan. Brand, 26, who was assigned to the 377th Military Police Company out of Cincinnati, is the only soldier charged with manslaughter in the deaths. Another soldier from the 377th, Sgt. James Boland, faces assault charges.

more.......

[mitchtv]

1. Death from ? DVT(deep vein thrombosis)?

my guess

[stopbush]

2. Proving once again why god so blesses this nation. n/t

[Kolesar]

3. F--king monsters

I don't know what else to say.

[libhill]

4. I do -

Welcome to the Fourth Reich -

[Kolesar]

8. when they started detaining people without due process of the law...

...I knew our country was finished. Things look glum now, but there was a time in the 1950s when movie studios were not allowed to release movies with an "anti-American" message in them. There was a time when publishers of sex manuals were imprisoned. There was a time when black people were lynched with impunity. I just hope we can crawl back from this hellish loss of rights in time.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Can someone explain to me...

:wtf: a "compliance blow" might be? Where I come from(many years of martial arts) there are, legally, two kinds of blows: self-defense(and you better have your ducks in a row when you get to court, and you will probably go to court) and aggravated assault.

But "compliance blows"? Nah, never heard of that. On a restrained prisoner? That's called "torture". People go to jail for that, do they not?

[tubbacheez]

9. "Compliance blow" is a ludicrous term meaning...

hitting someone medium hard, with the objective of intimidation and, subsequently, control.

I've heard it used here and there, mostly in private security circles, to describe a "short cut" to learning the various locks and holds used by martial artists and the more experienced law enforcement officers.




Basically, it's a hack.
And I expect anyone who uses them...

1). lacks the discipline and control to learn real martial arts, and
2). lacks the discipline and control to even apply this hack correctly, hence the deaths of persons in custody.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

16. Well, there is an evil little bastard...

That lurks inside me. I spend a good part of my life keeping him locked in a dark and remote closet. The evil little bastard is presently banging on the door and screaming "Those bastards should learn about a compliance blow called a punch in the throat!".

See? He's just an evil little bastard. That's why I want nothing to do with him. The terrible things he comes out with. Man.

[louis-t]

10. "compliance blow"

Just the Repubs re-inventing the English language. Y'know, culture of life 'n such.

[libhill]

13. Nopers -

Well, let's say low ranking enlisted men following orders, go to jail for that. The scum sucking commanders and higher ups who initiate this crap, come out smelling like a rose. I'm not trying to justify what happened, only that there seems to be no accountability from the higher ups, and that is bullshit.

[AlCzervik]

6. i never even heard of that tactic until a few days ago

can't even imagine how much that must hurt.

[rinsd]

7. They died from "dead legs"?

This kneeing someone in the leg is an old school yard device known as the dead leg.

I imagine it hurts a great deal more when dealing with adults but I never thought someone would be able to die from it. Can anyone explain how that would happen?

[tubbacheez]

11. Much depends on the location of the hit...

... and the number of hits, and the depth of injuries.


Rupturing arterial and vein walls would cause massive bruising and bleeding. Clot fragments entering the bloodstream are a serious stroke and/or heart risk, especially with subsequent blows to the same area.


Sufficient pain and injury can induce the body to go into shock. Untreated shock is a well-known cause of death.

[rinsd]

15. Thanks for the info (nt)

[sendero]

12. Whether it was "tolerated" or not...

... read Brand's statements. He basically killed at least one of the prisoners because he inconvenienced him. The guy should lose his freedom for a very long time.

[MountainLaurel]

14. Instead he'll get a Presidential medal

just like Bremer and all the other war criminals

[countryjake]

17. outraged kick

[paineinthearse]

18. they were taught to administer the so-called "compliance blows" in an Army

Any thoughts on the Army teaching torture techniques?

[democracy4dummies]

19. *sigh* no surprise here

After seeing the pictures of Abu Ghraib and reading about Falluja and Guantanamo, nothing the U.S. Army does surprises me. It's obvious that the people in power (i.e. Bush, Rumsfeld, and their cronies) are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their ends even if it involves torturing, murdering, and dropping chemical weapons on innocent people. I'm so ashamed of what my country has become!

[paineinthearse]

20. In 2001, Corrine Brown called it a coup d'etat

The election of 2000 was just the start. Ever since there have been purges of career military officers and career civil servants who do not agree with the neocon agenda. Every day our government sinks deeper into the cespool.