3 U.S. Soldiers Charged in Drowning of Detainee

Three U.S. soldiers have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the drowning of an Iraqi detainee who was shoved off a bridge near Baghdad in January, the military said Friday.

A fourth soldier faces charges in connection with a second Iraqi allegedly being pushed into the same river, the Tigris, in the city of Samarra. That man survived.

The two were civilians who had been detained for a curfew violation, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington said. He said the four soldiers, from Ft. Carson, were on patrol at the time. All have since returned to the Colorado post.

Sgt. 1st Class Tracy E. Perkins, 33, and 1st Lt. Jack M. Saville, 24, are charged with involuntary manslaughter, assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, according to a summary of the charges released by the Army. Sgt. Reggie Martinez, 24, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and Spc. Terry Bowman, 21, is charged with assault. All are charged with making false statements.

Tom Saville of Tappahannock, Va., said his son was a 2002 graduate of West Point and “a good kid and a loyal soldier.”

Saville, Perkins and Martinez are accused of pushing the drowning victim, identified only as Mr. Fadhil, into the Tigris on the night of Jan. 3. The survivor, identified as Mr. Fadel, was allegedly shoved into the river by Saville, Perkins and Bowman.

Saville gave the order to push both men in and then persuaded the other soldiers to deny that it had happened, the military said. All four are accused of telling investigators that they saw the Iraqis standing at the river’s edge when they left.

Perkins faces a second charge of assault: He is accused of pushing another civilian into the Tigris on Dec. 8 near the city of Balad. No other details were provided.

At least 19 prisoner deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan have been investigated as homicides by the military; eight were determined to be justified killings of an escaping or dangerous prisoner.

Most of the other cases remain under investigation. The military has released no information on some cases.

Saville and Perkins were formally charged June 7 and the other two were formally charged June 28. They face a hearing at Ft. Carson to determine whether they should be court-martialed.

That procedure, called an Article 32 hearing, has not been scheduled.

All four remain on active duty at Ft. Carson but have been reassigned, Withington said.

Also Friday, Britain’s attorney general said a British soldier would face court-martial in connection with the shooting of a 13-year-old Iraqi boy. The boy was wounded Sept. 15 in southern Iraq. Pvt. Alexander Johnston also could face an alternative charge of negligent handling of a weapon, Lord Goldsmith said.

The Defense Ministry would not give more details about what happened or say how seriously the boy was wounded.