Christopher M. Beiring

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Christopher M. Beiring is a Captain in the United States Army Reserves. He became notable when an Army inquiry implicated Beiring, and many of the men under his command, in the 377th Military Police Company in the deaths in custody, in December 2002, of two captives they shared custody of with Company A of the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion.

Army medical examiners who performed post-mortems on Dilawar and Habibullah concluded that they had been struck with hundreds of blows to their legs, over the course of several days. Major Elizabeth Rouse, the coroner, said, "I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus."^[1] The official Army death certificates list the cause of death for these two men as "homicide".

A New York Times's article quoted an Army Criminal Investigation Division report, acquired by Human Rights Watch, asserting that "the abuse went far beyond the two killings."^[2]

Beiring was charged on September 11, 2005.^[3] Beiring's court martial is scheduled for the early winter of 2006.

Prosecutors say that Beiring should be held responsible for abuse committed by the troops under his command.

Beiring told his article 32 hearing:

"My unit and I did the best we could with the personnel, training, resources and talent provided...

"The unit as a whole did a great job under adverse conditions with little guidance and fewer resources."

The Akron Beacon Journal conducted a telephone interview with Beiring. In their report of that interview they said:

"Beiring commanded about 95 soldiers in Afghanistan. A few, he admits, were bad apples who exhibited bad judgment and 'probably did go way overboard.'"

"But he also believes the two detainees contributed to their own deaths.

"'They fought with my guards,' Beiring said. 'They chose to be combative. I'm not convinced we broke any rules.'

Captain Carolyn Wood, the commanding officer of Company A of the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion, whose troops had shared in the homicides, had also asserted that the men were left suspended from the ceiling, for days on end, as a safety measure. But, according to the March 12, 2005 New York Times article:

"The reports conclude that Captain Wood lied to investigators by saying that shackling prisoners in standing positions was intended to protect interrogators from harm. In fact, the report says, the technique was used to inflict pain and sleep deprivation."

In his interview with the Akron Beacon Journal Beiring said he relied on guidance from Captain Wood's Militay Intelligence Company.

"'We were told that shackling a detainee for purposes of ensuring he stayed awake and standing was authorized,' Beiring said. 'The guidance changed to require detainees not be shackled over their heads, and I passed this word to my platoon leadership.'"

Beiring had promised to volunteer for further service in Afghanistan or Iraq, if he is acquitted.

On December 23, 2005 Lieutenant Colonel Thomas S. Berg, the officer in charge of Beiring's article 32 hearing, recommended that all charges be dropped.^[4] The Washington Times quoted from Berg's report:

"I see no evidence ... that Capt. Beiring failed to perform his duty to the best of his ability. As a newly classified MP, newly assigned to command MP guard company that was going off to war to do an ill-defined mission for which it was not designed for or even notionally trained, in a crud-hold like the [Bagram Collection Point] in 2002 with [military intelligence] calling the shots, Capt. Beiring was sorely challenged at every step."

In mid January 2006, all charges against CPT Beiring were dropped. In addition his last soldier was acquitted of all charges in his court-martial in early March 2006. Of the 11 soldiers brought before the Bagram Prosecution Team with charges, 2 plead guilty of minor assault charges (3 and 5 month jail sentences), 1 was court-martialed (Pvt Willie Brand) but was given no jail time although he was by far the worst offender, 3 had charges dropped (probable cause did not exist to warrant a court-martial), 5 were acquitted of all charges.