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Soldiers face Article 32 over detainee deaths

Four soldiers charged with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in connection with detainee deaths in Iraq in spring 2007 will have an Article 32 hearing Aug. 26 in Vilseck, Germany, officials have announced.

The hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding, will help the investigating officer and convening authority determine if the soldiers should be court-martialed.

The four soldiers are Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham, Sgt. Charles Quigley, Spc. Stephen Ribordy and Spc. Belmor Ramos. They are assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

According to the charge sheets, each soldier is accused of conspiring with his fellow soldiers to kill male detainees of apparent Middle Eastern descent on or around March 10, 2007, and April 16, 2007, by taking them to a canal in or near Baghdad and shooting them. The names of the detainees are unknown, according to the charge sheets.

No other details, including the number of detainees involved and whether the detainees were wounded or killed, were available.

At the time of the incident, the soldiers were deployed with 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

The brigade returned to Schweinfurt, Germany, in November after a 15-month deployment in Iraq. It was later reflagged to the 172nd and moved to Grafenwoehr. The brigade is scheduled to deploy to Iraq late this fall.

The soldiers accused in this case are not in pre-trial confinement and they have been assigned military attorneys, according to information provided by the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr.

In addition, authorities have not determined who will be called as witnesses to testify during the Article 32, according to information from the command. The decision will be made by the investigating officer for the Article 32 based on the evidence and recommendations provided to him by the prosecuting and defense attorneys.