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CID Report (Death): 0171-04-CID259-80223
Aug. 7, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 94
Investigation requested by CID Chief of Investigative Operations Division after Washington Post article on June 15, 2004 reporting the death of Mr Sajid Kadhim Bori Al-Bawi while in the custody of U.S forces. The 15-6 investigation pertaining to the incident, which reflected Mr. Al-Bawi was shot when he engaged in a struggle with a soldier and resisted apprehension. Mr. Al-Bawi attempted to gain control of the soldier's M4 Carbine rifle, while entangled with the soldier, and the soldier fired his pistol five times at Mr. Al-Bawi to nullify the threat to himself and the other soldiers. Investigation established probable cause to believe person(s) parameters of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) for that unit. CID sought a legal opinion from 3rd Group Criminal Investigative Command, SJA, as to whether Mr. Al-Bawi’s killing was a justifiable homicide, based only on the 15-6. SJA opined that probable cause existed that the soldier committed justifiable homicide and acted within ROE, and CID investigation was closed without further inquiry. Special Agent in Charge decided to list Subject of investigation as “None” and terminated investigation because determined further investigation would be of little or no value
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- 2004-05-17, Baghdad, Iraq, Death
- Investigation requested by CID Chief of Investigative Operations Division after Washington Post article on June 15, 2004 reporting murder of Mr Sajid Kadhim Bori Al-Bawi by U.S forces. The Post reported that in the early morning hours of May 17, 2004, soldiers came to Kadhim’s house in Kamiliya, a suburb of Baghdad. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi military guards burst into the house, where Kadhim was sleeping in the front room with his wife and five children. Other relatives were rounded up; the women and children were put in a room. The power was out in the house, but the family heard the soldiers take Kadhim into another room, where his mother slept. They heard Kadhim say, “Oh, you coward” and then heard shots. The soldiers left, taking with them a hooded man they said was Kadhim. The family found his body, however, stuffed under some mats behind a refrigerator. The U.S. military stated that Kadhim’s house was raided on the basis of information obtained from an Iraqi informant, and that Kadhim was shot because he allegedly “grabbed the M-4 rifle from the soldier and moved the selector switch from safe to semi when the soldier attempted to detain him at his residence.” According to the CID Report, the soldier allegedly “fired his pistol five times at Mr. Kadhim” in response. The coroner’s report said Kadhim had five bullet wounds: two in the torso, near the heart; two on his left side; and one in his right side. Qasim Kadhim, Sajid’s brother, initiated an investigation and sought media attention for his brother’s murder. He told the Post that when he first went to the U.S. military to find out what had happened to his brother, a captain apologized and told him the killing was an accident. The captain asked Qasim to return with letters of support vouching for his brother. When Qasim did so, the captain told him that his brother had resisted arrest. Another brother, Haider, asked if his brother had been killed after hearing the gunshots. A soldier told him that they were just checking a gun, and then struck him in the head with the butt of his gun, leaving a wound that had to be stitched. CID sought a legal opinion from 3rd Group Crim Investigative Command, SJA, as to whether Kadhim’s killing was a justifiable homicide, based only on the 15-6. SJA opined that probable cause existed that the soldier committed justifiable homicide and acted within ROE, and CID investigation was closed without further inquiry. Special Agent in Charge decided to list Subject of investigation as “None” and terminated investigation because determined further investigation would be of little or no value.