Saturday, February 19, 2022

Iraq: American accused of torturing in the KRG; political stalemate continues

Ross Roggio is a name in the news.  He's an American from Philadephia who has been arrested.  CBS 21 NEWS notes:

A Pennsylvania man has been charged with torture and conspiracy to commit torture after he "directed and participated in the systematic torture of an employee over the course of 39 days" in Iraq.

Ross Roggio is charged "with suffocating a victim with a belt, threatening to cut off one of the victim’s fingers, and directing Kurdish soldiers to inflict other severe physical and mental pain and suffering on the victim," according to a report from U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus.

According to the indictment against Roggio, he allegedly lead interrogation sessions where he directed Kurdish soliders to suffocate the victim with a bag, "taser the victim in the groin," and jump on the victim while wearing military boots.


AP adds, "Roggio and the Roggio Consulting Company were previously charged in 2018 with illegally exporting firearms parts and tools from the United States to Iraq as part of a weapons project in Kurdistan."  Sydney Kostus ( INFORM NY) notes:


Roggio was taken into custody on Thursday night in Pittston. We spoke to a former neighbor about Roggio and when the FBI raided his home back in 2018.

“What he said was he works in construction. That he had worked in the army and was in the construction corp there. It was crazy, I still don’t know very much about it but it was insane,” stated Steve.

His mother spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News. She says ross is her caretaker here at their home and she is heartbroken.

“I’m a mother of course everybody thinks I’m wrong. A wrong idea everybody thinks of me. But I just can’t live without him,” explained Soon Roggio.

Soon Roggio spoke to us about the moment she found out her son, Ross Roggio, was taken into custody for allegedly torturing a person who worked for him in Iraq.



Roggio's is a curious case and there's much more that will come out..  For example, he's claimed to have been kidnapped in Iraq (by business partners) and had his passport stolen as a result.  That's what he told customs at JFK Airport when he returned to the US in early 2017.  Also at JFK, his communication devices were confiscated which his attorneys have argued were a violation of The Fourth Amednment.  On today's news, Kanishka Singh (REUTERS) reports:

Roggio, 53, is the second American citizen - and the fourth person overall - to be charged with violating a U.S. torture statute that went into effect in 1994, the department said. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit torture and one count of torture.

"The grand jury charges that the defendant directed and participated in the systematic torture of an employee over the course of 39 days by Kurdish soldiers in Iraq," said John Gurganus, the U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania handling the case.

Roggio and the Roggio Consulting Company LLC previously were charged in a 37-count indictment in 2018 with illegally exporting firearms parts and tools from the United States to Iraq as part of the weapons project in Kurdistan.

 
Meanwhile, still no progress towards an Iraqi government.  The stalemate continues, months after the October 10th elections were held.  RUDAW reports:

Shiite influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said on Friday that the members of his tripartite alliance for the formation of a new government in Baghdad have been threatened again. 

“Once again some people threaten our allies and partners who have called for a national majority government … Stop threatening. I reaffirm that we will not give up and will not allow terror and corruption to control us,” said Sadr in a tweet without providing information about the alleged threats and those involved. 

Hours later, Mohammed al-Halbsousi - who leads Sunnis in the tripartite alliance with Sadr and the largest Kurdish bloc, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) - said that they will not accept such threats.   

“There are some incomplete attempts to violate the sovereignty and dignity of the state. We are not afraid of their weapons and do not accept their threats,” he said in a tweet. 


Stop threatening, hiss Moqtada.  MEMO notes, "Al-Sadr did not mention the names of the sides threatening him over his plan to form a majority government, but he confirmed that the threats were reccurent."  MEMO also notes, "A bomb attack targeted the party headquarters of Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed Al-Halbousi in the western Anbar province, according to a local security source on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports."  That would the head of the group of Sunnis that have joined with Moqtada.  It appears that they aren't very popular with their own.  In fact, that's what the earlier attack suggested as well but a head-up-the-ass western press wanted to blame that on the pro-Iranian militia groups.  For them to carry that out in Baghdad was possible but not likely.  For them to carry it out in western Anbar not possible, not without drawing attention to themselves.  



The following sites updated:





Posted by at