WASHINGTON: The Justice Department revealed Monday that an American has been convicted of torture in a US court for the cruel treatment of an employee at an Iraqi Kurdish weapons facility.
Ross Roggio, 54, was convicted guilty of torture and other felonies in federal court in Pennsylvania on Friday and faces life in prison.
According to the department, Roggio was establishing a factory in the Kurdistan area of Iraq in 2015 to produce M-4 automatic assault rifles using parts unlawfully supplied from the United States.
At the time, one of his employees, an Estonian, questioned the concept.
According to the accusation, Roggio organized for Kurdish soldiers to kidnap the victim in order to prevent him from intervening.
The individual was held at a Kurdish military camp for 39 days, during which Roggio allegedly oversaw repeated interrogation and torture sessions, instructing soldiers to beat him with hoses, suffocate him with a bag, and threaten to cut off his fingers with a cutting tool.
“On at least one occasion, Roggio wrapped his belt around the victim’s neck, yanked the victim off the ground, and suspended him in the air, causing the victim to lose consciousness,” the department said.
Roggio and his company were charged in 2018 with illegally exporting guns parts and tools for the project on 37 charges.
Based on a torture law passed in 1994, the Justice Department added torture charges to the case last year.
Roggio was found guilty on Friday of torture, conspiracy, illicit weapons exports, money laundering, smuggling, and other counts.
Only one other American has been charged under the 1994 law.
In 2009, a US court sentenced Charles “Chuckie” Taylor, the son of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, to 97 years in prison for torture committed in the West African country between 1999 and 2003.
“Today’s landmark conviction is the result of the victim’s extraordinary bravery, who came forward after the defendant inflicted unspeakable pain on him for more than a month,” FBI Assistant Director Luis Quesada said.
“Torture is one of the most heinous crimes the FBI investigates, and we will relentlessly pursue justice with our partners at the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center,” Quesada said.
Source: Reuters