American vigilantes convicted of torturing Afghans

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Three Americans -- led by a former Green Beret who boasted he had Pentagon support -- were found guilty Wednesday of torturing Afghans in a private jail and were sentenced to prison.

After a 7 1/2-hour session in a stuffy Kabul courtroom, the three-judge panel was unanimous in convicting the former soldier, Jonathan Idema, and his right-hand man, Brent Bennett, on charges of entering Afghanistan illegally, making illegal arrests, establishing a private jail and torturing their captives. They were sentenced to 10 years.

Edward Caraballo, a cameraman who said he was making a film about America's war on terrorism, received an eight-year term. Four young Afghan accomplices were sentenced to terms ranging from one to five years; one of them burst into tears with the verdict.

Idema, who has a previous fraud conviction, claimed to have had high-level support from the Pentagon and Afghan officials in his group's efforts to hunt down terrorists, but the U.S. military says the men were freelancers operating outside the law and without its knowledge.

Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari dismissed a string of video clips showing Idema talking with Afghan leaders, purported U.S. intelligence officials and NATO troops and said they were operating alone.

Idema, who wore sunglasses and khaki fatigues bearing an American flag throughout the trial, denounced the trial as a throwback to the times of the hard-line Islamic Taliban movement.

"It's the same sick Taliban judges, the same sick sense of justice," Idema said as he was led, handcuffed, out of the courtroom. "I knew that the American government wasn't going to help me."

The lawyers for Idema and Caraballo said they would appeal. It was unclear whether Bennett, who represented himself, would do so.

Idema spent three years in jail in the 1980s for bilking 60 companies out of more than $200,000. He and Bennett are from Fayetteville, N.C.; Caraballo is from New York.

The group was arrested July 5 after Afghan security forces raided a house in Kabul and discovered eight Afghans who said they had been detained and tortured by the Americans. Several of them testified they were beaten, burned with scalding water and deprived of food and sleep.

Idema said the prisoners were subjected to "standard interrogation techniques" but no abuse.

Idema claimed to have unearthed a plot to bomb the main American military base north of Kabul and assassinate Afghan leaders. In an interview with The Associated Press, he also claimed to be hot on the trail of Osama bin Laden.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan has admitted receiving a prisoner from Idema and holding him for about two months. NATO forces cooperated briefly with the three, sending explosives experts to assist in three arrest raids in the Afghan capital. They found traces of explosives and suspect electronic components in one raid.

But Idema has since been denounced by the alliance and the American military as an impostor, and disowned by Afghan leaders and the Pentagon. The U.S. military had no comment on the convictions.

The trial was marked by chaotic procedures, dismal translation and constant outbursts from Idema.

A non-Muslim, Idema asked to swear on the Quran before testifying Wednesday. He kissed a copy of Islam's holy book, prompting one of his former prisoners, an Afghan Supreme Court official with a long black beard, to jump to his feet and acclaim Idema as a convert.

Some in the courtroom audience cried "God is great!" three times in response, moving Idema and his former inmate to exchange smiles.

Later, the defendants and their lawyers appeared stunned by the verdict, which came even though the defense was given no chance to cross-examine witnesses.

Instead, two American defense attorneys drew heavily on several videotapes shot by Caraballo. They showed Idema meeting a man identified as a U.S. Army captain coordinating counterterrorism operations in Kabul, and speaking by phone to officials Idema said were at the Defense Department and the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

The supposed captain said on tape that Idema's group was "rolling up AQ (al-Qaida) like it's nobody's business."

Idema and his lawyer identified Lt. Gen. William Boykin, the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, as his alleged Pentagon sponsor. Pentagon officials said Boykin would not comment on the matter.

Other footage showed Idema being greeted at Kabul's airport by its director and the city police chief, and meeting with commanders of the Afghan government's militia.

Idema said the FBI was holding his and Bennett's passports. He said he had a "non-expirable Afghan military visa" from a spell in Afghanistan around the end of 2001, when he says he fought against the Taliban.

Caraballo's passport had an entry stamp but no visa, but Idema said their arrival in Afghanistan was arranged by its ambassador to India.

"It's ridiculous to claim they entered illegally under these circumstances," said Robert Fogelnest, Caraballo's attorney.

The judge said the videos only showed they had "private" contacts with Afghan leaders and failed to demonstrate official links to the American military.

Fogelnest said the Afghan legal system was unfit to carry out the trial, and suggested U.S. officials had sacrificed his clients to avoid a scandal.

The U.S. Embassy disagreed: "The government held the trial fairly and in accordance with the Afghan law," said spokeswoman Beth Lee.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, asked about the fairness of the proceedings, said: "The Afghan government held the trial in accordance with Afghan law. Their decision was handed down by an Afghan court after a full trial had been conducted."

U.S. and Afghan officials have left open whether the men might be able to serve any final sentence in an American jail, or if the U.S. government will bring more charges against them at home.