Taher Thabet
Encyclopedia
Thaer Thabet al-Hadithi is an Iraq
i activist.
A native of Haditha and founder of the Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy.
The day after a squad of US Marines
killed 24 Iraqi civilians after an improvised explosive device
detonated by insurgents killed American soldier Miguel Terrazas,
Thabet, who claimed to live around 100 yard away from the original IED blast in Haditha
, videotaped the scene the day after the carnage. He then shared his tape four months later with Time
magazine, Viewing the tape prompted them to run a story on the incident after McGirk found obvious discrepancies with the military's November press release about the IED and the injuries revealed by the tape, which obviously were not caused by shrapnel. From his Baghdad bureau, McGirk emailed questions, telephoned interviews, and eventually submitted the videotape to United States military officers, and together with the eyewitness accounts he quoted from child survivors, this evidence has spurred several US and Iraqi administrative and criminal investigations into what is now known as the Haditha killings
.
According to the recently declassified testimony of Capt. Jeffery Dinsmore, the battalion intelligence officer monitoring the days events, al-Hadithi and his associate Ali Omar Abrahem al-Mashhadan, a Reuters News Service reporter had been previously identified by battalion command as known insurgent propagandists. In fact, al-Mashhadan had spent several months in US custody on suspicion of insurgent activity.
Yet the Sunday Times of London interviewed a human rights worker, Abdul Rahman al-Mashandani, who is unrelated to the Reuters stringer and one of 16 staffers of the Iraq-based Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy. The similarity of the mens' surnames led to confusion, according to some analysts.
Marine intelligence officers said frequent cellular telephone conversations between these two had been monitored. Hadithi, who was one of the sources interviewed by Tim McGirk of Time
magazine, which brought the incident to light, presented himself as a "journalism student" who was embarking on a midlife career following the American invasion. Hadithi also claimed his group, which runs 14 local offices in Iraq, was affiliated with Human Rights Watch
(HRW). After HRW denied having any official connection or ties with the Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy, Time issued a retraction.
Time's McGirk, who now is the bureau chief in Jerusalem, declined to testify for the defense at the Marines' article 32 hearing
. He was not an eyewitness to the attacks; his interviews have been published and are already in the public domain.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i activist.
A native of Haditha and founder of the Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy.
The day after a squad of US Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
killed 24 Iraqi civilians after an improvised explosive device
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
detonated by insurgents killed American soldier Miguel Terrazas,
Thabet, who claimed to live around 100 yard away from the original IED blast in Haditha
Haditha
Haditha is a city in the western Iraqi Al Anbar Governorate, about 240 km northwest of Baghdad. It is a farming town situated on the Euphrates River at . Its population of around 100,000 people is predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs...
, videotaped the scene the day after the carnage. He then shared his tape four months later with Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, Viewing the tape prompted them to run a story on the incident after McGirk found obvious discrepancies with the military's November press release about the IED and the injuries revealed by the tape, which obviously were not caused by shrapnel. From his Baghdad bureau, McGirk emailed questions, telephoned interviews, and eventually submitted the videotape to United States military officers, and together with the eyewitness accounts he quoted from child survivors, this evidence has spurred several US and Iraqi administrative and criminal investigations into what is now known as the Haditha killings
Haditha killings
The Haditha killings refers to the incident where 24 Iraqi men, women and children were killed by a group of United States Marines on November 19, 2005 in Haditha, a city in the western Iraqi province of Al Anbar. At least 15 of those killed were civilians...
.
According to the recently declassified testimony of Capt. Jeffery Dinsmore, the battalion intelligence officer monitoring the days events, al-Hadithi and his associate Ali Omar Abrahem al-Mashhadan, a Reuters News Service reporter had been previously identified by battalion command as known insurgent propagandists. In fact, al-Mashhadan had spent several months in US custody on suspicion of insurgent activity.
Yet the Sunday Times of London interviewed a human rights worker, Abdul Rahman al-Mashandani, who is unrelated to the Reuters stringer and one of 16 staffers of the Iraq-based Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy. The similarity of the mens' surnames led to confusion, according to some analysts.
Marine intelligence officers said frequent cellular telephone conversations between these two had been monitored. Hadithi, who was one of the sources interviewed by Tim McGirk of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, which brought the incident to light, presented himself as a "journalism student" who was embarking on a midlife career following the American invasion. Hadithi also claimed his group, which runs 14 local offices in Iraq, was affiliated with Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
(HRW). After HRW denied having any official connection or ties with the Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy, Time issued a retraction.
Time's McGirk, who now is the bureau chief in Jerusalem, declined to testify for the defense at the Marines' article 32 hearing
Article 32 hearing
An Article 32 hearing is a proceeding under the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice, similar to that of a preliminary hearing in civilian law. Its name is derived from UCMJ section VII Article An Article 32 hearing is a proceeding under the United States Uniform Code of Military...
. He was not an eyewitness to the attacks; his interviews have been published and are already in the public domain.