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U.S. NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE
INVESTIGATIVE ACTION
01APRIL06
CONTROL: 13MAR06-MEBJ-0164-7HMA
RESULTS
OF INTERVIEW / FAMILY MEMBERS OF HOUSE # 4
1. On 29Mar06, Reporting Agent (RA) interviewed six
family members of houses # 3 and # 4. The six interviewees were
related to the four brothers killed in house # 4, V/AHMED, Jamal Aiad,
V/AHMED, Jasib Aiad V/AHMED, Marwan Aiad, abd V/AHMED, Khatan Aiad.
The interviewees consisted of Aiad Ahmed HAMEED (father of four
victims), Khadega Hassan AHMED (mother of the four victims), Yosef
Aiad AHMED (brother to the four victims), RANA Sayhood ABID-AL-AZEEZ,
(Yosef AHMED’s wife), Najla Abid-Al-Razak HAMAD (V/AHMED, Jamal’s
wife), and Khaled Jamal AIAD (V/AHMED, Jamal’s son). Overall, the
foregoing interviewee’s account of what occurred on 19Nov05 in houses
# 3 and # 4 differ from S/WUTERICH’s, X/SALINAS’, and X/SHARRATT’s
accounts. The interview was conducted in Arabic with the assistance of
[name withheld] who provided the
Arabic-English translation. The interview was conducted in the living
room area of house # 4, Al Askari neighborhood, Haditha, Iraq.
2. Upon entering house # 4, was RA introduced to
Yosef AHMED. Prior to asking any questions, RA presented her
credentials, both verbally and by displaying them. Thereafter, RA
explained the purpose of the unscheduled visit to house # 4. Yosef
asserted that he was not present on 19Nov05 when the Marines came to
his family’s household (i.e., houses # 3 and # 4); however, Yosef
explained that his other family members (mother, father,
sisters-in-law, nephew, and wife) had witnessed the events that
preceded and/or followed the deaths of his four brothers. Yosef
related that two of his sisters-in-law were not available for
interviews: one had moved away (V/AHMED, Jasib’s wife) to live with
her family, and the other (V/AHMED, Marwan’s wife) was too frightened
by the presence of the Marine escorts to participate. Yosef added that
his other family members would be willing to be interviewed but noted
his father had recently experienced a stroke and was resting for the
moment. At a later point during the interview, Yosef’s father, Aiad
Ahmed HAMEED, joined the other interviewees in the living room and
responded to the RA’s questions.
3. First, the interviewees provided the backgrounds
of their four deceased family members. V/AHMED, Jamal was
approximately 40 years old and was employed as a car dealer. At the
time of the shootings, V/AHMED, Jamal, his wife, Najla, and his
fourteen-year-old son, Khaled, resided at house # 3. V/AHMED, Jasib
was approximately 29 years old and was a traffic police officer for
the city of Haditha. V/AHMED, Marwan was approximately 28 years old
and was also employed by the local Haditha government as an engineer.
V/AHMED, Khatan was approximately 22 years old and worked in another
city outside of Haditha.
4. Second, the interviewees were asked to provide
the details of what occurred on 19Nov05 and reported the following:
a. House # 3: Najla reported that on 19Nov05 her
husband, V/AHMED, Jamal, and her son, Khaled were at their residence,
house # 3, when three Marines arrived. The Marines ordered them out of
the house and yelled at them in Arabic: “Erhab” (terrorists),
“Mujahedin” (insurgents) and “Qunbelah” (bombs). In response, the
three family members repeatedly stated, “No.” Najla and Khaled noted
the Marines instructed the three of them to put their hands behind
their heads and face the window. V/AHMED, Jamal asked why his family
needed to face away from them. Again, the Marines asked them about the
bomb to which the family answered, “No”. In an attempt to prove his
family had nothing to do with the IED explosion, V/AHMED, Jamal
directed the Marines to a few of the windows of his house that were
broken when the IED exploded earlier that morning. V/AHMED, Jamal
informed the Marines that he and his family were also hurt/damaged by
the explosion. Najla opined that the Marines appeared to be angry and
repeatedly referred to the bomb while pointing in the direction of the
explosion. When the Marines asked about who lived in house # 4,
V/AHMED, Jamal explained it was his father’s home but they were all
family, one household. Subsequently, the Marines ordered V/AHMED,
Jamal, Najla, and Khaled to house # 4 and they complied. While they
proceeded to house # 4, two Marines led them and one Marine walked
behind them.
b. Positioned outside of house # 4: At this point
during the interview, Najla led the interpreter out of the living room
and showed him where the Marines had them wait outside. This was
conducted within the RA’s view. The area Najla pointed out was located
outside of house # 4, behind a wall that is positioned between the
street and house # 4, near a patio.
c. House # 4: According to the interviewees, when
the Marines approached house # 4, they ordered Jamal’s 76 year-old
father, Aiad Ahmed HAMEED, and all the occupants of house # 4 (Aiad’s
wife, the four deceased, their respective wives, Khaled, and an
infant), to come outside. Once all of the family members were out in
front of house # 4, the Marines divided them into two (2) lines, with
the elderly father and four (4) women sitting in a row and the four
(4) men and Khaled standing in a separate second row. While the family
remained in two rows, the Marines questioned them about being
terrorists, the IED explosion, and whether they had weapons. The
interviewees acknowledged they could not understand everything the
Marines were saying but were able to understand the foregoing
accusations stated in Arabic. The family members noted that the
Marines appeared to be angry. Specifically, the Marine that was
carrying both a rifle and a pistol seemed to be very upset. The
interviewees explained they formed this opinion because the Marine
with the pistol would repeatedly rack his rifle in their direction
when the family attempted to ask questions about what was happening.
Khaled can speak some English and attempted to do so but the Marine
with the pistol would respond by racking his weapon. While being
questioned, one Marine entered house # 4. V/AHMED, Jasib attempted to
inform the Marines that he was a police officer but they would not
listen. V/AHMED, Marwan also tried to establish his innocence and show
the Marines a badge provided to him by the USMC Civil Affairs Group (CAG).
V/AHMED, Marwan had reportedly met with members of the CAG and had
been cooperating with them. Per the CAG’s instruction, V/AHMED, Marwan
was instructed to show the badge in the event U.S. military members
approached and/or questioned him. [Name withheld], the translator, confirmed
that members of the CAG had distributed such badges to local
individuals such as V/AHMED, Marwan. [Name withheld] indicated he had direct
knowledge of this due to his position as a translator.
d. AK-47s: While the family members were positioned
in the two rows, the Marines asked them whether they had any weapons.
V/AHMED, Jasib informed them of his AK-47 located in house # 4.
(V/AHMED, Jasib was issued an AK-47 for his employment in law
enforcement.) V/AHMED, Jamal also informed the Marines that he had an
AK-47 in his home (house # 3). Consequently, one Marines went back
with V/AHMED, Jamal to retrieve the AK-47, empty magazines, and five
(5) rounds from house # 3. A Marine also accompanied V/AHMED, Jasib
into house # 4 to obtain his weapon. After the Marines were shown the
AK-47s, they maintained possession of them and slung them over their
shoulders. During the interview, Aiad informed RA that he also owned
an AK-47 but on 19Nov05, he did not inform the Marines of the weapon’s
existence. Aiad explained that his weapon was locked inside house # 4
and that he had the only key, noting that no one else had access to
his AK-47. Aiad’s AK-47 remained locked in place until the Marines
returned to his house several days after 19Nov05 when Aiad voluntarily
released the weapon to them. [Name withheld], the translator, confirmed Aiad’s
account, as [name withheld] had translated for the Marines that went to house #
4 and took Aiad’s AK-47 in the days that followed 19Nov05.
e. DIVISION of the FAMILY: As noted above, while
assembled into two rows outside of house # 4, the interviewees first
watched one Marine enter house # 4. Thereafter, when the Marine
returned from being inside house # 4, he took another Marine with him
and re-entered house # 4. They left one Marine to guard the family
members outside at gunpoint. Through the window, Najla could see the
two Marines talking and pointing their fingers. Najla speculated that
the two Marines appeared to be making a plan or deciding what to do
next. When the two Marines exited house # 4, they spoke with the
Marine that had remained behind. Immediately thereafter, a Marine
pointed his gun at the women and Aiad using it to direct them over to
and inside house # 3. Najla pleaded for her son, Khaled, and the
Marines allowed him to go with her. The Marines also instructed
V/AHMED, Khatan to hand over the infant he was holding to V/AHMED
Jasib’s wife. The family members asked the Marines why they were
splitting them up, and the Marines responded by pointing one finger in
the air. The family members took this to mean one (1) question needed
to be asked. While they were being divided and placed in house # 3,
the women started to scream because they feared they were going to be
killed.
f. GUNFIRE: Najla stated while inside house # 3,
she tried to open the door several times. The first time, she asked
the Marine standing guard what was happening to their men. The Marine
told her to “shut the door”. The second time Najla opened the door and
asked the Marine the same question but he responded by breaking the
window near the door she had opened with the butt of his weapon and
instructed her to stay inside. (RA asked if the window was still
broken and Najla said they had since replaced it.) Subsequently, Najla
and the other women heard muffled gunfire. At this point, Najla opened
the door for the third time and heard four (4) distinct gunshots. When
she opened the door for the last and fourth time, Najla observed that
the Marine standing guard had left and saw the Marines running down
the street. Najla and other family members ran to house # 4.
g. AFTER the SHOOTING: When they reached house # 4,
the family members discovered the four deceased in one of the back
bedrooms. V/AHMED, Jasib was found nearest to the bedroom door.
V/AHMED, Marwan was observed inside the closet, sitting with his legs
out and his head titled to the left against the inside of the closet
panel. V/AHMED, Khatan was seen next to V/AHMED, Marwan but his head
was resting on one of the closed panel/closet doors. V/AHMED, Jamal
was the furthest from the door but near V/AHMED, Marwan. Upon seeing
her husband and brother-in-law’s dead bodies, Najla decided to run to
her brother-in-law, Yosef Aiad AHMED’s house for help. Shortly
thereafter, Najla ran back toward house # 4 with Yosef and his wife,
Rana. However, an ISF member stopped them before they reached house #
4 and explained that the Marines would shoot them if they continued to
run. At this point, the Marines approached Yosef, handcuffed him, and
detained him for questioning. Nevertheless, Rana and Najla continued
toward house # 4. When they reached house # 4 at approximately 1000,
Rana saw the bodies in the same positioning as described above and
started screaming. Rana immediately thought about her husband and left
house # 4 to look for him. Rana found an ISF member and asked him
about her husband, Yosef. Rana explained that she was screaming at the
ISF member and he told her to leave or a Marine would shoot her. Rana
heeded his advice, and went home to change her clothing. Around 1500
Rana returned to house # 4 and recalled moving the bodies, with the
assistance of her father-in-law, Aiad. They aligned the bodies two by
two on the carpet of the back room where their bodies were found and
covered them with sheets.
h. BDA: The interviewees confirmed that some time
later, the Marines came to house # 4 again, took photographs of the
four dead brothers, and removed their bodies in bags. While this
occurred, Khadega (mother of the four deceased) asserted the Marines
laughed and put cigarettes out on her carpets/floors. Khadega noted
she was very upset by how the Marines were acting in her home and
toward her dead sons. The interviewees also recalled seeing two
different sizes of spent shell casings around their deceased family
members’ bodies. Khaled recalled picking up two of the small shell
casings and four of the larger. Najla recalled picking up one shell
casing and Yosef recalled finding four shell casings; however the
family was afraid to keep them so they threw them away. The family
members noted the individuals hired to clean house # 4 may have kept
some of the shell casings. Therefore, they intended to ask the
cleaners and provide such casings to RA in the event any were located.
When asked of Yosef’s detainment, the interviewees explained that
eventually Yosef was released. Yosef explained that after the
shootings, he decided to move in with his parents to care for them.
After 19Nov05, the family members continued to dwell in house # 4,
approximately a week or two later. Currently, the family members now
occupy both houses # 3 and # 4.
5. Third, several attempts were made to obtain the
family’s consent to exhume the four deceased brothers’ remains. The
family adamantly opposed an exhumation. Khadega exclaimed that she
would rather die than have her sons’ remains dug up. The family
members related that they want to cooperate with the investigation and
would in every way except for an exhumation. Yosef asserted that he
considered his brothers’ remains sacred and that they had to consider
his brothers’ families as well. Yosef related that they were happy to
learn the Marines may be prosecuted and his family wanted them to be
punished; however, he noted it would be like killing him and rest of
his family if their remains were removed from the ground. Yosef feared
his father would have another stroke. Thereafter, the family members
questioned why the holes in their home’s walls, the shot/broken window
in the back bedroom where the deceased were found, the shell casings
they saw near the bodies, and their accounts of what occurred would
not be enough to prosecute the Marines. RA acknowledged their
viewpoint; however, repeatedly explained the evidentiary value of the
deceased’s remains. In turn, Khadega and Yosef announced they would
rather forgive the Marines than endure the pain that would be caused
by digging up their loved ones’ bodies.
6. Finally, RA informed Yosef and Aiad that they
would be compensated for the damages the team of agents caused to
their home by marking their walls, digging out bullet casings from
their walls, and removing a closet panel. Yosef adamantly refused any
compensation and stated his family would pay for the reconstruction.
RA informed Yosef that U.S. compensation was mandatory and thanked the
family members for their time and cooperation. Thereafter, the
interview was terminated.
REPORTED BY: Nayda M. Mannle, Special Agent
OFFICE: NCISHQ 0023 |