Deputy U.S. attorney general nominee Paul McNulty should expect to be quizzed today about the possible prosecution of CIA agents in the suffocation death of an Iraqi major general, during a Senate Judiciary hearing, according to a Senate aide.
Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush died bound in a sleeping bag during interrogation. Fort Carson-based Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. was convicted of negligent homicide in the death and sentenced last week to a reprimand, $6,000 in forfeited pay and being restricted to the base for two months.
Judiciary members want to know if other observers in the interrogation of Mowhoush will be charged and whether charges are forthcoming in other prisoner- abuse cases, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Members of the committee are expected to focus on the lack of prosecution of prisoner-abuse cases that have been forwarded by the Justice Department to McNulty, U.S. attorney in Alexandria, Va., since 2001. .
The cases include 11 allegations of detainee abuse referred to McNulty by the Defense Department and nine allegations referred by “another agency,” according to a Jan. 17 letter from the Justice Department to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
The other agency is believed to be the CIA, based on statements by former Attorney General John Ashcroft and documents obtained by The Denver Post.
The CIA acknowledged to The Post in June 2004 that it forwarded an internal investigation of the general’s death to the Justice Department. The case is believed to be among those forwarded to McNulty.
McNulty did not respond to questions Wednesday. The CIA declined comment.
“In this particular case, the involvement of CIA agents in the interrogation of Maj. Gen. Hamed Mowhoush remains murky at best,” said Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., who serves on the Armed Services committee.
“Having said that, I believe that if these agents or any others are found to have committed acts of torture in violation of U.S. law, they should be held accountable for their actions just like everyone else.”
Several congressmen echoed those sentiments Wednesday.
“If they participated, you bet they should be prosecuted,” said Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., another member of the Armed Services committee.
“The public is kept in the dark about what the CIA does because it’s a clandestine operation,” said Hefley.
“But we have no government policy that sanctions torture. And while the (Welshofer) sentence seems weak to me, at least he was made to answer for it and if there was anyone else involved they should too.”
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com.
