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DEFEND OUR TROOPS

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1st DIV SOLDIERS
ACCUSED OF MURDERING
FOUR DETAINEES

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THE ACCUSED:

Sgt. Jess Cunningham and Sgt. Charles Quigley have been charged with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in an incident involving four prisoners. Their Article 32 concluded August 28, 2008.

Spc. Belmor Ramos and Spc. Steven Ribordy were charged with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder. Both men waived their rights to an Article 32 hearing, and their charges were referred to general courts-martial on September 8th by Brig. Gen. David R. Hogg, JMTC commander. Ramos was sentenced to 8 months in prison.

The soldiers were members of 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment at the time of the incident. The unit has since reflagged and is now part of the 172nd Infantry Brigade.

Ramos’ court-martial is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. on September 18th at Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany, according to an Army statement. Ribordy’s court-martial has not yet been scheduled.

According to Stars and Stripes, "Testimony given by various witnesses during the Article 32 indicated that none of the four soldiers so far charged in the case actually killed Iraqi detainees, but were nearby when three noncommissioned officers, including a company first sergeant, a platoon sergeant and a senior medic, allegedly shot four unarmed detainees near a canal in southwest Baghdad."

NEWS COVERAGE

Spc. Belmor Ramos. US soldier jailed for Iraq deaths, BBC News, October 2, 2008.

Spc. Belmor Ramos. U.S. soldier sentenced over killing of Iraqis, Reuters, September 18, 2008.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier who admitted involvement in the shooting of detainees in Iraq early last year has been sentenced to seven months in jail and will be dishonorably discharged, the army said on Thursday.

Specialist Belmor Ramos, 23, pleaded guilty at a court martial in Germany to charges of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder. He agreed to testify in the trials of other soldiers involved, the army said in a statement.

Ramos was present when four unarmed, handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi detainees were allegedly shot dead near a canal in Baghdad in March or April 2007.

Three other U.S. soldiers have been identified by witnesses as the shooters: Sergeant First Class Joseph P. Mayo, the platoon sergeant, Sergeant Michael P. Leahy Jr., a senior medic and an acting squad leader, and First Sergeant John E. Hatley.

Criminal charges have been filed against Hatley, Mayo and Leahy, as well as against Staff Sergeant Jess Cunningham, Sergeant Charles Quigley and Specialist Stephen Ribordy, the army statement said on Thursday.

The sentence for Ramos included a reduction to the rank of private and the forfeiture of all pay and allowances, it added.

Iraq: Detainee death cases headed to trial (pdf), Stars and Stripes, September 13, 2008.

US Army hearing in death of 4 Iraqis ends (pdf), Associated Press, August 28, 2008.

US Soldiers Executed Iraqis, Statements Say (pdf), Paul von Zielbauer, New York Times, August 27, 2008.

Soldiers face Article 32 hearing over detainee deaths, Michelle Tan, Army Times, August 4, 2008.

Four soldiers charged with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in connection with detainee deaths in Iraq in spring 2007 will have an Article 32 hearing Aug. 26 in Vilseck, Germany, officials have announced.

The hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding, will help the investigating officer and convening authority determine if the soldiers should be court-martialed.

The four soldiers are Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham, Sgt. Charles Quigley, Spc. Stephen Ribordy and Spc. Belmor Ramos. They are assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

According to the charge sheets, each soldier is accused of conspiring with his fellow soldiers to kill male detainees of apparent Middle Eastern descent on or around March 10, 2007, and April 16, 2007, by taking them to a canal in or near Baghdad and shooting them. The names of the detainees are unknown, according to the charge sheets.

No other details, including the number of detainees involved and whether the detainees were wounded or killed, were available.

At the time of the incident, the soldiers were deployed with 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

The brigade returned to Schweinfurt, Germany, in November after a 15-month deployment in Iraq. It was later reflagged to the 172nd and moved to Grafenwoehr. The brigade is scheduled to deploy to Iraq late this fall.

The soldiers accused in this case are not in pre-trial confinement and they have been assigned military attorneys, according to information provided by the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr.

In addition, authorities have not determined who will be called as witnesses to testify during the Article 32, according to information from the command. The decision will be made by the investigating officer for the Article 32 based on the evidence and recommendations provided to him by the prosecuting and defense attorneys.

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