Soldier Pleads Guilty to Assault in Beating Death of Afghan
Prisoner; Gets 3-Month Sentence
The Associated Press
05/22/05 - - EL PASO, Texas (AP) - A military policeman has been sentenced to
three months in prison after pleading guilty to assault and two
counts of making a false statement in the 2002 beating death of a
prisoner in Afghanistan.
In a plea bargain, Army prosecutors agreed not to pursue a
charge of maltreatment against Spc. Brian E. Cammack. Cammack also
agreed to testify in other cases related to the deaths of two
inmates at the Bagram Control Point.
Cammack was sentenced Friday during a court-martial at Fort
Bliss. He will be demoted to private, fined more than $3,200 and
given a bad-conduct discharge.
"I have come to realize what I did was wrong,"
Cammack said.
Cammack, a member of the Army Reserve's 377th Military Police
Company in Cincinnati, said he was angry when he struck the
prisoner, Mullah Habibullah, twice in the thigh with his knee. The
prisoner had allegedly spit on his chest.
The technique isn't supposed to be used unless a guard's life
is in danger, but soldiers have testified it was used regularly
with the knowledge of officers. Cammack told the judge that he
didn't feel threatened by the prisoner.
Habibullah died of a pulmonary embolism apparently caused by
blood clots formed in his legs from the beatings, according to a
2004 military report.
Prosecutors argued that Cammack should be given the maximum
penalty of six months in prison. They declined comment after the
court-martial.
"Spc. Cammack made a mistake. He has been punished, and
now he is moving on with the rest of his life," said Capt.
Robert Leone, the defense attorney.
Cammack testified earlier this year in a hearing for Pfc.
Willie V. Brand, who is scheduled to face court-martial on charges
of assault, maiming, maltreatment and making a false statement.
Brand is accused of assaulting Habibullah and the other prisoner
who died, a man identified only as Dilawar.
This month, the Army charged three more soldiers with assault
at the detention center where the two prisoners died.
AP-ES-05-22-05 1245EDT
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