Mario Lozano
Encyclopedia
Mario Lozano is a member of the U.S. Army
holding the rank of specialist
(SPC), who was once indicted by an Italian
court for his role in the death of Italian Secret Service
officer Nicola Calipari
in an incident on Route Irish, immediately following the Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena
. In 2007 a superior Italian court decided that Italy had no jurisdiction in this case - though renouved, this motivation has been since dubbed as foul by the High Jury Italian court in 2008.
Lozano who is largely of Puerto Rican ancestry (and has a paternal grandfather who was half Sicilian) is a native resident of the borough
of the Bronx in New York City
. He is assigned to the 1st Battalion
of the 69th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division of the New York State National Guard, based in Manhattan
, New York
.
Lozano was not the only US soldier involved in this incident, but received much more attention because he was the one who fired the machine gun
killing Calipari.
during a disputed incident at BP 541, a blocking position (a loose term indicating a mobile roadblock that allows no traffic to pass) located behind a ninety-degree turn on the ramp joining Route Vernon to Route Irish. (The road was between the heavily fortified Green Zone
and Baghdad International Airport
.) Calipari was returning from a successful rescue mission to liberate Giuliana Sgrena
, an Italian independent journalist, detained by Iraqi insurgents
. Both Sgrena and a colleague of Calipari, Andrea Carpani, were wounded in the shooting.
Lozano and members of his squad had been directed to set up the blocking position as part of security measures for Ambassador
John Negroponte
's convoy from the city to the airport
. Although the ambassador's convoy had already passed twenty minutes earlier, a communications failure with the dispatching
unit (which had just deployed to Iraq, and was on the job for literally the first time), meant that Lozano's squad had been in place for more than eighty minutes, sixty-five minutes over the customary length.
An internal U.S. Army investigation cleared Lozano of any wrongdoing and concluded that he acted within the standing rules of engagement
. It was pointed out during the Army investigation that Calipari, who had previously been in contact with the United States Embassy in Baghdad
and had previously been sharing information and working with US Coalition forces in order to free Sgrena, did not share information about the rescue attempt with the embassy. In addition, two members of Lozano's unit were killed two days previously in a car bombing very near to where the incident occurred. While 58 bullets were missing from his M-240B machine gun, forensic evidence showed that the vehicle had been struck only a total of 11 times by the 7.62mm bullets, and that 2 had entered through the windshield. Lozano told investigators that he had fired the remaining bullets while test-firing his weapon and while attempting to walk the bullets up to the speeding car to warn it of the impending danger from the blocking position.
A related report and issued by Italian authorities, rather than accusing Lozano of being the sole culprit, pointed to the inappropriate placement of the blocking position (at the end of a one-way ramp between two highways) and lack of proper warning signals and/or concertina wire
. The Italian report stated that because of the short span of visible road from the BP, Lozano, being in charge of both the searchlight
used to warn incoming vehicles and of the machine gun
, had only seconds to react, point the searchlight, warn the vehicle, assess it was not halting, man the weapon, aim, shoot warning shots, and then disabling shots.
broadcasted a video of the first moments after the shooting. In this video, Calipari's car is seen stopped on the road after the shooting, with the door open, the lights switched on, and apparently more than 50 meters away from the US Army Armored Humvee. This video contradicts claims by the US that the car was traveling with its lights switched off and was fired upon by Lozano when it was less than 50 meters from his position. However, no video of the actual shooting is available to determine this conclusively.
, had become a national hero in Italy. As a result, there was significant pressure on the government of Italy to publicly support another investigation into the shooting, this time being conducted by Italian prosecutors.
Italy's Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi
indicated in Parliament on May 5, 2005 that the government remained fully committed to supporting the ongoing judicial investigation into Calipari's death. One of the most prominent leaders of the opposition in the lower house of parliament
, Piero Fassino
, called for the United States to facilitate cooperation with the investigation, indicating that they believed the U.S. Army should produce Lozano for questioning by the prosecuting magistrate
s.
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio
, head of the Italian Federation of the Greens
, indicated that should the United States fail to cooperate with this investigation by allowing Lozano to be questioned, he would push for a hearing at the International Court of Justice
.
The non-Italian media had been reporting that it was unlikely that Italy would seek to try Lozano in absentia
were the U.S. to not render him to Italian custody. Despite the Italian government's desire to maintain a firm alliance with the United States an Italian judge has decided to try Lozano in absentia.
.
On January 18, 2006, it was reported that the prosecutors had decided to charge Lozano with murder. The prosecutors indicated that despite making over twenty formal requests to the U.S., the U.S. refused to formally identify Lozano. After confirming Lozano's identity, the Magistrate service appointed an attorney
to represent Lozano during the charging process.
In June 2006, the Italian government announced that prosecutors have formally charged Lozano with murder, and were considering an extradition
request. The Italian government then carried through with its request, and the U.S. government, as expected, denied the extradition request. At that point, the Italian authorities considered putting Lozano on trial in absentia.
Putting foreigners on trial in absentia is a relatively uncommon practice in Italy, but exceptions are made for cases of "political murder". Prosecutors in Italy announced that the case against Lozano qualifies as a "political murder" case, and was thus eligible for trial in absentia.
In the meantime, newspapers in the United States have quoted soldiers in Lozano's unit who said that he had been "devastated" when he learned that he had killed an Italian officer and wounded a female civilian, and that he was unable to sleep for days afterward.
On April 10, 2007, Lozano gave an interview to CBS Television in which he appeared deeply concerned about the legal proceeding in Italy, and very sorry about the "pain he'd provoked to the family of Nicola Calipari". He also reconfirmed the version he and his superiors already gave of the incident in Iraq, providing a sole new insight: contrasting the opinion of Mrs. Sgrena's life partner Pier Scolari that he'd shot "300- or 400- rounds into and around the car", he stated that it would have been impossible for him to do so as he'd have had to reload the machine gun at least once or twice to fire that many rounds.
Lozano's trial in absentia began on April 17, 2007. On October 25, 2007, an Italian court dismissed the charges against Lozano after determining that multinational forces in Iraq were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the country that sent them.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
holding the rank of specialist
Specialist (rank)
Specialist is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the U.S. Army, just above Private First Class and equivalent in pay grade to Corporal. Unlike Corporals, Specialists are not considered junior non-commissioned officers...
(SPC), who was once indicted by an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
court for his role in the death of Italian Secret Service
SISMI
Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977-2007....
officer Nicola Calipari
Nicola Calipari
Nicola Calipari was an Italian SISMI military intelligence officer with the rank of Major General. Calipari was killed by United States soldiers while escorting a recently released Italian hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena, to Baghdad International Airport.- Career :Calipari was born in Reggio...
in an incident on Route Irish, immediately following the Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena
Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena
The Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena was a covert operation by the Italian military secret service, SISMI, to rescue Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena from kidnappers in Iraq...
. In 2007 a superior Italian court decided that Italy had no jurisdiction in this case - though renouved, this motivation has been since dubbed as foul by the High Jury Italian court in 2008.
Lozano who is largely of Puerto Rican ancestry (and has a paternal grandfather who was half Sicilian) is a native resident of the borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of the Bronx in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He is assigned to the 1st Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
of the 69th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division of the New York State National Guard, based in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Lozano was not the only US soldier involved in this incident, but received much more attention because he was the one who fired the machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
killing Calipari.
Involvement in the death of Nicola Calipari
Lozano shot and killed Secret Service agent Nicola Calipari in BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
during a disputed incident at BP 541, a blocking position (a loose term indicating a mobile roadblock that allows no traffic to pass) located behind a ninety-degree turn on the ramp joining Route Vernon to Route Irish. (The road was between the heavily fortified Green Zone
Green Zone
The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental center of the Coalition Provisional Authority and remains the center of the international presence in the city...
and Baghdad International Airport
Baghdad International Airport
Baghdad International Airport, originally Saddam International Airport, , BIAP is Iraq's largest airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate...
.) Calipari was returning from a successful rescue mission to liberate Giuliana Sgrena
Giuliana Sgrena
Giuliana Sgrena is an Italian journalist who works for the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto and the German weekly Die Zeit. While working in Iraq, she was kidnapped by insurgents on February 4, 2005. After her release on March 4, 2005, Sgrena and the two Italian intelligence officers who...
, an Italian independent journalist, detained by Iraqi insurgents
Iraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
. Both Sgrena and a colleague of Calipari, Andrea Carpani, were wounded in the shooting.
Lozano and members of his squad had been directed to set up the blocking position as part of security measures for Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
John Negroponte
John Negroponte
John Dimitri Negroponte is an American diplomat. He is currently a research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs...
's convoy from the city to the airport
Baghdad International Airport
Baghdad International Airport, originally Saddam International Airport, , BIAP is Iraq's largest airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate...
. Although the ambassador's convoy had already passed twenty minutes earlier, a communications failure with the dispatching
Dispatcher
Dispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information...
unit (which had just deployed to Iraq, and was on the job for literally the first time), meant that Lozano's squad had been in place for more than eighty minutes, sixty-five minutes over the customary length.
An internal U.S. Army investigation cleared Lozano of any wrongdoing and concluded that he acted within the standing rules of engagement
Rules of engagement
Rules of Engagement refers to those responses that are permitted in the employment of military personnel during operations or in the course of their duties. These rules of engagement are determined by the legal framework within which these duties are being carried out...
. It was pointed out during the Army investigation that Calipari, who had previously been in contact with the United States Embassy in Baghdad
Embassy of the United States in Baghdad
The Embassy of the United States in Baghdad is the diplomatic mission of the United States in Iraq. It is located in Baghdad and is home to the Ambassador to Iraq. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey is currently the Chief of Mission....
and had previously been sharing information and working with US Coalition forces in order to free Sgrena, did not share information about the rescue attempt with the embassy. In addition, two members of Lozano's unit were killed two days previously in a car bombing very near to where the incident occurred. While 58 bullets were missing from his M-240B machine gun, forensic evidence showed that the vehicle had been struck only a total of 11 times by the 7.62mm bullets, and that 2 had entered through the windshield. Lozano told investigators that he had fired the remaining bullets while test-firing his weapon and while attempting to walk the bullets up to the speeding car to warn it of the impending danger from the blocking position.
A related report and issued by Italian authorities, rather than accusing Lozano of being the sole culprit, pointed to the inappropriate placement of the blocking position (at the end of a one-way ramp between two highways) and lack of proper warning signals and/or concertina wire
Concertina wire
Concertina wire or Dannert Wire is a type of barbed wire or razor wire that is formed in large coils which can be expanded like a concertina. In conjunction with plain barbed wire and steel pickets, it is used to form military wire obstacles....
. The Italian report stated that because of the short span of visible road from the BP, Lozano, being in charge of both the searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
used to warn incoming vehicles and of the machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
, had only seconds to react, point the searchlight, warn the vehicle, assess it was not halting, man the weapon, aim, shoot warning shots, and then disabling shots.
Video
On May 8, 2007, the Italian television channel Canale 5Canale 5
Canale 5 is an Italian private television network of Mediaset, the media branch of Fininvest. Canale 5 was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980, based on a local channel, TeleMilano 58, founded in 1978....
broadcasted a video of the first moments after the shooting. In this video, Calipari's car is seen stopped on the road after the shooting, with the door open, the lights switched on, and apparently more than 50 meters away from the US Army Armored Humvee. This video contradicts claims by the US that the car was traveling with its lights switched off and was fired upon by Lozano when it was less than 50 meters from his position. However, no video of the actual shooting is available to determine this conclusively.
Political Implications
Calipari's death caused a major international incident, since Calipari, a highly decorated SISMI agentSecret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
, had become a national hero in Italy. As a result, there was significant pressure on the government of Italy to publicly support another investigation into the shooting, this time being conducted by Italian prosecutors.
Italy's Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
indicated in Parliament on May 5, 2005 that the government remained fully committed to supporting the ongoing judicial investigation into Calipari's death. One of the most prominent leaders of the opposition in the lower house of parliament
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
, Piero Fassino
Piero Fassino
Pietro Franco "Piero" Fassino is an Italian politician with the Democratic Party, the current Mayor of Turin and a former national secretary of the Democrats of the Left party.-Biography:...
, called for the United States to facilitate cooperation with the investigation, indicating that they believed the U.S. Army should produce Lozano for questioning by the prosecuting magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s.
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio , is an Italian politician. He served as Minister of Environment in the second cabinet of Romano Prodi between 2006 and 2008....
, head of the Italian Federation of the Greens
Federation of the Greens
The Federation of the Greens is a green political party in Italy, which includes also a large eco-socialist faction. Since 2009 the party leader is Angelo Bonelli.-Early years:...
, indicated that should the United States fail to cooperate with this investigation by allowing Lozano to be questioned, he would push for a hearing at the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
.
The non-Italian media had been reporting that it was unlikely that Italy would seek to try Lozano in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
were the U.S. to not render him to Italian custody. Despite the Italian government's desire to maintain a firm alliance with the United States an Italian judge has decided to try Lozano in absentia.
Judicial Investigation
Italian prosecutors actively sought to interview Lozano as part of their criminal investigation into Calipari's death. On December 22, 2005, the special prosecutors of the Magistrate's service of Rome announced that they were considering charging Lozano with voluntary manslaughterVoluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
.
On January 18, 2006, it was reported that the prosecutors had decided to charge Lozano with murder. The prosecutors indicated that despite making over twenty formal requests to the U.S., the U.S. refused to formally identify Lozano. After confirming Lozano's identity, the Magistrate service appointed an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
to represent Lozano during the charging process.
In June 2006, the Italian government announced that prosecutors have formally charged Lozano with murder, and were considering an extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
request. The Italian government then carried through with its request, and the U.S. government, as expected, denied the extradition request. At that point, the Italian authorities considered putting Lozano on trial in absentia.
Putting foreigners on trial in absentia is a relatively uncommon practice in Italy, but exceptions are made for cases of "political murder". Prosecutors in Italy announced that the case against Lozano qualifies as a "political murder" case, and was thus eligible for trial in absentia.
In the meantime, newspapers in the United States have quoted soldiers in Lozano's unit who said that he had been "devastated" when he learned that he had killed an Italian officer and wounded a female civilian, and that he was unable to sleep for days afterward.
On April 10, 2007, Lozano gave an interview to CBS Television in which he appeared deeply concerned about the legal proceeding in Italy, and very sorry about the "pain he'd provoked to the family of Nicola Calipari". He also reconfirmed the version he and his superiors already gave of the incident in Iraq, providing a sole new insight: contrasting the opinion of Mrs. Sgrena's life partner Pier Scolari that he'd shot "300- or 400- rounds into and around the car", he stated that it would have been impossible for him to do so as he'd have had to reload the machine gun at least once or twice to fire that many rounds.
Lozano's trial in absentia began on April 17, 2007. On October 25, 2007, an Italian court dismissed the charges against Lozano after determining that multinational forces in Iraq were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the country that sent them.