Abed Hamed Mowhoush
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Abed Hamed Mowhoush (Arabic "عبد حمد مهاوش") was an
air vice-marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...
believed to be in command of the transport, logistics and airlifting division of the
Iraqi Air Force The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...
during the regime of
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
immediately prior to the
2003 Invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
, until his surrender to
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forces on 10 November 2003. He died on 26 November 2003 while in U.S. custody at the Al-Qaim detention facility approximately northwest of
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
, following a 16-day period of detention. Mowhoush was commissioned as a heavy transport and airlift pilot officer in 1969 and commanded a
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
of
An-12 The Antonov An-12 ( Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants. For more than th ...
and
An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...
heavy cargo planes during the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
. He was in charge of airlifting logistics operations in the Iraqi Southern Air Command during the Gulf War. He was promoted to
brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
/ air commodore rank in 1991 and in 1994 placed in charge of the Eastern Air Command. He was appointed as the commander of the Transport and Strategic Airlifting Command in 1999. He had a total of 3125 hours of logged flying experience on his log from 1969 until 1997 on the
An-12 The Antonov An-12 ( Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants. For more than th ...
,
Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commer ...
, and
An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...
. U.S. forces initially claimed that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid and that he had died of
natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
, but ''
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'' later reported that he had given himself up in an effort to secure the release of his sons. Four U.S. servicemen were arrested in October 2004 in connection with the killing.


Controversy over U.S. claims

The circumstances of Mowhoush's capture, detention and death appear to have been the subject of a campaign of
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ou ...
by U.S. military authorities, who retracted or amended several of their initial claims. * It was initially claimed that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid, but it was later admitted that he had voluntarily surrendered. * Information which was initially released indicated that Mowhoush was cooperating and had revealed the names of key insurgents, but it was later admitted that he had revealed little during the period when he was well-treated and absolutely nothing after the tactics became harsh. * Despite Mowhoush dying while being tortured, the U.S. military claimed in a news release that his death was brought about by natural causes. According to ''The Washington Post'':
Hours after Mowhoush's death in U.S. custody on 26 November 2003, military officials issued a news release stating that the prisoner had died of natural causes after complaining of feeling sick. Army psychological-operations officers quickly distributed leaflets designed to convince locals that the general had cooperated and outed key insurgents. The U.S. military initially told reporters that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid. In reality, he had walked into the Forward Operating Base "Tiger" in Qaim on 10 November 2003, hoping to speak with U.S. commanders to secure the release of his sons, who had been arrested in raids 11 days earlier.


Investigation, arrests and trial

Mowhoush died while being interrogated by two soldiers associated with the
66th Military Intelligence Brigade The 66th Military Intelligence Brigade ("Six-Six-M-I" and 66th MIB) is a United States Army brigade, subordinate to United States Army Intelligence and Security Command and based at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Wiesbaden, Germany. After years of histo ...
. At first the official military report stated that "Mowhoush said he didn't feel well and subsequently lost consciousness". However, when the
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the CIA committed a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, including Physical abuse, physical and sexu ...
scandal erupted,
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
acknowledged that the
autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...
report indicated that the cause of death was "
asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...
due to smothering and chest compression", and that his body showed "evidence of blunt force
trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source *Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic inju ...
to the chest and legs". The Pentagon added that a
homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
investigation was underway. In October 2004, four arrests were made in connection with Mowhoush's death: Chief Warrant Officer Lewis E. Welshofer Jr., and Chief Warrant Officer
Jeff L. Williams Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson (given name), Jefferson or Jeffrey (given name), Jeffrey, which comes from a Middle Ages, medieval variant of Geoffrey (given name), Geoffrey. Music ...
, who were the two soldiers conducting the interrogation, and Sergeant First Class William J. Sommer and Specialist Jerry L. Loper from the
3d Armored Cavalry Regiment The 3rd Cavalry Regiment, formerly 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment ("Brave Rifles") is a regiment of the United States Army currently stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The regiment has a history in the United States Army that dates back to 19 May 1 ...
, who were assigned to the detention facility at the time of the interrogation, and who also faced
dereliction of duty Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform his duties (or follow a given o ...
charges. According to ''The Washington Post'':
Senior officers in charge of the facility near the
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
n border believed that such '
claustrophobic Claustrophobia is the fear of confined spaces. It can be triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators, especially when crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows. Even bedrooms with ...
techniques' were approved ways to gain information from detainees, part of what military regulations refer to as a "fear up" tactic, according to military court documents.
The delay in the arrest of the accused was reportedly a result of their commanding officer, Colonel David Teeples, being reluctant to pursue charges and preferring a simple reprimand. It was not until the ''
Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
'' ran a series of articles exposing the lenient treatment of the accused that military lawyers commenced prosecution proceedings under
military law Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...
. Documents revealed during these proceedings confirmed that Mowhoush was physically abused and met his death at the hands of military interrogators:
It was inside the sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi
paramilitaries A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.


Punishment

On January 21, 2006, an American military jury convicted Welshofer of
negligent homicide Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against a person who, through criminal negligence, allows another person to die. Examples include the crash of Aeroperu Flight 603 near Lima, Peru. The accident was caused by a piece of duct tape ...
in the death of Mowhoush. A military jury ordered a reprimand and forfeiture of $6,000 in pay, and restricted him to his home, office and church for two months.


References


External links

* Human Rights First
Behind the Wire: An Update to Ending Secret Detentions (2005)
* Human Rights First
Command’s Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mowhoush, Abed Hamed 2003 deaths 2003 murders in Iraq Iraqi Air Force air marshals Iraqi murder victims Extrajudicial prisoners killed while in United States custody Iraqi torture victims Iraqi people who died in prison custody People murdered in Iraq 1947 births