Former CIA contractor to be sentenced in fatal detainee beating of Afghan detainee

Former CIA contractor to be sentenced in fatal detainee beating of Afghan detainee
The Associated PressPublished: February 4, 2007

RALEIGH, North Carolina: A former CIA contractor convicted of assaulting an Afghan detainee who later died is scheduled to be sentenced later this month, according to federal court records.

David A. Passaro, 40, will be sentenced on Feb. 13. He was convicted Aug. 17 in U.S. District Court of a count of felony assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of misdemeanor assault.

Passaro was the first American civilian charged with mistreating a detainee during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prosecutors said Passaro beat Abdul Wali over two days while interrogating him in July 2003 at a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan. Passaro was not charged in Wali's death.

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle, who refused Passaro's request to overturn the conviction, said the evidence supported the verdict. Boyle said the lack of an autopsy probably kept Passaro from being charged with murder.
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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/05/america/NA-GEN-US-Afghan-Prisoner-Abuse.php