http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18detain.html

August 18, 2006

C.I.A. Contractor Guilty in Beating of Afghan

By SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 -- A C.I.A. contractor accused of severely beating an Afghan prisoner who died the next day was convicted Thursday of felony assault.

The former contractor, David A. Passaro, 40, a onetime Special Forces medic who went to work for the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan in 2003, is the only civilian ever charged as a result of accusations of prisoner abuse there, in Iraq and in the broader campaign against terrorism. He faces a maximum of 11-1/2 years in prison.

The trial, in federal court in Raleigh, N.C., near Mr. Passaro's hometown, Lillington, included testimony from clandestine C.I.A. officers who wore disguises to protect their identities. It drew close attention from human rights advocates.

Using a flashlight and his fists, witnesses said, Mr. Passaro repeatedly hit Abdul Wali, a 28-year-old farmer suspected of firing rockets at American troops. Mr. Wali was in such pain, they said, that he pleaded to be shot, and he died the day after a second day of abuse by Mr. Passaro.

Mr. Passaro's lawyers said he had not been trained in interrogation and had been under pressure to stop frequent rocket attacks on a remote base near the Pakistan border. They said Mr. Passaro had tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Mr. Wali after he lost consciousness.

Defense lawyers also tried to mount a "public authority defense," asserting that in statements and legal opinions, top officials from President Bush on down had implicitly authorized harsh treatment for potential terrorists. But Judge Terrence W. Boyle would not allow the defense to call senior officials, including George J. Tenet, former director of central intelligence, as witnesses.

In a statement sent to C.I.A. employees after the verdict, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the agency's current director, called Mr. Passaro's actions "unlawful, reprehensible and neither authorized nor condoned by the agency."

The acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, George E. B. Holding, hailed the verdict. "This should be a message to the world that wherever U.S. laws are ruling today, justice will be done," Mr. Holding said, according to Reuters.

But John Sifton, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the facts of the case had merited more serious charges, including torture, manslaughter or murder. "We question whether the Justice Department has a real commitment to prosecuting detainee abuse," Mr. Sifton said.

Justice Department officials have said one obstacle to more severe charges was the absence of an autopsy, which they said had not been performed on Mr. Wali because his family opposed it.

Mr. Sifton said about 20 abuse cases had been referred to the Justice Department by the Pentagon and the C.I.A., but Mr. Passaro's is the only one to have been prosecuted. The referrals, some involving deaths in custody, have focused on civilian intelligence officers, civilian contractors like those who worked as interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad and enlisted military personnel already discharged.

By contrast, more than 80 members of the military have been ordered to face court-martial on charges of abusing prisoners, and more than 50 have been convicted, according to Human Rights Watch. At least 40 have been sentenced to jail, though fewer than 10 are serving more than a year, Mr. Sifton said.