Eight US marines were charged with criminal offenses yesterday for their
alleged roles in the mass murder of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha
last year, CNN reported.
The US Marine Corp. announced the charges at a press conference in Camp
Pendleton, California, according to the report.
However, no charges against the marines could lead to death sentences.
Four of them were charged with multiple counts of murder.
Although the four are not charged with premeditated murder, the charges
indicate that they intended to kill their targets and should have known that
their actions could have led to the deaths of innocent civilians.
The other four marines, all officers, were charged with crimes related to an
alleged cover-up of the incident.
The officers, including a lieutenant colonel, two captains and a first
lieutenant, face the charges of violating and order and dereliction for failing
to accurately investigate and report the slayings to superiors.
Charges in such a case are the first step in the U.S. military's legal
process and will be followed by an Article 32 hearing, which is roughly
equivalent to a civilian grand jury investigation.
After that hearing, an investigating officer will recommend how to proceed,
and commanders will decide if the cases should go to a court martial.
The four marines charged with murder face maximum possible sentences of life
in prison. The four officers face much lesser sentences.
The Haditha killings happened on Nov. 19, 2005, after a roadside bomb hit a
US marine convoy in Haditha, Iraq, killing one soldier.
After the bomb exploded, the marines allegedly killed five unarmed men in a
nearby vehicle and then raided a nearby cluster of houses, killing a total of 24
civilians, including 15 women and children.
The details of the killings were not made public until the Time magazine
broke the story in March 2006.
