Mahmudiyah Killings - Rape and Killings

Rape and Killings

On March 12, 2006, the soldiers (from the 502nd Infantry Regiment) at the checkpoint had been drinking alcohol and discussing plans to rape Abeer. Five soldiers of the six-man unit responsible for the checkpoint left their posts for the Qasim farmhouse. (The sixth, Sergeant Anthony W. Yribe, was charged with failing to report the attack but did not otherwise participate). Of the five, four of the soldiers were alleged to have directly perpetrated the attack, while Howard acted as lookout. In broad daylight, they walked to the house (not wearing their uniforms) and separated Abeer and her family into two different rooms. Green then murdered her parents and younger sister, while two other soldiers raped Abeer. Green then emerged from the room saying "I just killed them, all are dead". He then raped Abeer and shot her in the head. After the rape the lower part of Abeer’s body, from her stomach down to her feet, was set on fire. The fire eventually spread to the rest of the room and the smoke alerted neighbors, who were among the first to discover the scene. One recalled "The poor girl, she was so beautiful. She lay there, one leg was stretched and the other bent and her dress was lifted up to her neck." They ran to tell Abu Firas Janabi, Abeer’s uncle, that the farmhouse was on fire and that dead bodies could be seen inside the burning building. Janabi and his wife rushed to the farmhouse and doused some of the flames to get inside. Upon witnessing the scene inside, Janabi went to a checkpoint guarded by Iraqi soldiers to report the crime.

The Iraqi soldiers immediately went to examine the scene and thereafter went to an American checkpoint to report the incident. This checkpoint was different from the one manned by the perpetrators. After approximately an hour, some soldiers from the checkpoint went to the farmhouse. These soldiers were accompanied by at least one of the perpetrators.