The Pentagon said on Monday it had charged a former United States soldier with raping and killing a young woman in Iraq and killing three members of her family in what may prove one of the most incendiary war crimes investigations since the invasion in 2003.
Steven Green (21) and a former private with the US army’s 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was charged under military law with four counts of murder and one of rape.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty. He appeared in court in North Carolina on Monday, and was expected to be returned to Kentucky for further proceedings.
Green’s arrest came as new details emerged about the alleged atrocity in the town of Mahmudiya, suggesting that the rape victim, identified by the Washington Post on Monday as Abeer Qasim Hamza, was as young as 15 years old.
Reuters news agency put the woman’s age at 16, and US officials have said the woman was 20 or 25. Her sister, who was also killed, may have been as young as seven.
It also emerged that Green had been discharged from the military because of a personality disorder after serving 11 months in Iraq.
His arrest marks the fifth war crimes inquiry by the Pentagon in recent weeks, and because of the extreme sensitivities attached to sexual offences and family honour in Muslim communities threatens to further inflame anti-American sentiment in Iraq and around the world.
In the version of events released by the justice department, Green was among four soldiers manning a checkpoint near the family’s home on the night of March 11.
While on duty, they were overheard discussing plans to rape the woman, and later left for her house after directing another soldier to monitor the radio. They were armed with M4 rifles from the armoury, and fuelled with alcohol — in violation of military regulations. Three of the alleged assailants changed into dark clothing; a witness also said Green covered his face with a brown T-shirt.
When the soldiers arrived at the home, one of the American troops stood guard at the front door, while the other soldiers went inside. One witness told the FBI investigator that the parents and sister of the rape victim were confined to a back bedroom, and that he later heard gunshots from that room.
”I just killed them, all are dead,” Green allegedly announced to the soldiers, according to the FBI investigative report released by the justice department.
Three of the soldiers then raped the woman, according to the report. She was then shot in the head a number of times. Her body also was burned, the report said.
All four members of the family were killed with an AK-47 rifle that the father kept in the house, the investigative report said.
The alleged atrocity comes to light just as the Pentagon deals with a number of serious war crimes allegations in Iraq, including murder investigations into the deaths of 24 civilians at Haditha in November.
In this instance, the alleged rape and murder emerged late last month when two soldiers came forward to say they had overheard fellow troops planning an attack on the young woman, and that the same men had later returned with bloodstained clothing.
The soldiers told investigators that they were motivated to come forward because of guilt.
At first, US military authorities had attributed the death of the family to sectarian violence. That explanation initially suited the relatives of the dead, who viewed the rape of the young woman as a stain upon the honour of the family, and did not want it widely known.
According to Monday’s Washington Post, the family did not hold public burials because they were so ashamed of the circumstances surrounding their daughter’s death.
Although relatives have given permission for the bodies to be exhumed for the purposes of an investigation, one family member contacted by the Post was cynical about the enterprise.
”What is the benefit of publishing this story?” said Bassem, identified as the rape victim’s uncle.
”People will read about this crime. And they will forget about it the next day.” – Guardian Unlimited Â