Paul Wolf

Attorney at Law
PO Box 46213, Denver CO 80201
Tel. (202) 431-6986, paulwolf@yahoo.com

Information and Evidence Unit

Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int

Subject: Deaths of Afghans in US Custody

November 7, 2017

Dear Ms. Bensouda:

Please consider the following four cases in your investigation into war crimes committed
by U.S. military forces in Afghanistan. The cases involve Afghans who died while in custody,
involve suspicious circumstances, and to my knowledge, have never been adequately investigated.

These four cases are from among more than 200 released by the U.S. military in response
to a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). in 2011,
the ACLU posted them online. 1

Seven of the cases involved Afghanistan (most involved Iraqis), and of those, I found four
of the deaths to be suspicious. In 2012 wrote to Christof Heyns, the UN Special Rapporteur on
Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, and to the Afghan and Iraqi embassies, but have
never received any replies. I am a human rights lawyer, not affiliated with the ACLU, and do not
represent these individuals or their legal heirs. However, I don't think anyone else has tried to help
them.

There are numerous redactions in the documents, including, unfortunately, the names of
two of the victims, whom I am designating as Doe 1 and Doe 2.

1. Doe Detainee 1

According to allegations of a U.S. Army Captain, this detainee was executed during an
interrogation at Bagram, Afghanistan. A subsequent investigation determined that the detainee

1
As of Nov. 6, 2017, they are still accessible, at http://www.aclu.org/national-security/deaths-
detainees-us-custody-documents-released-january-14-2011. The reports for these four cases were
downloaded from this website.
died of gunshot wounds he had received previously in combat. Only an unclassified summary of
the original Report Of Investigation (ROI) was released.

2. Doe Detainee 2

According to the Report of Investigation, a U.S. soldier killed an unarmed Afghan male in
the presence of several witnesses. From the report, it does not appear that he was tried or punished.

3. Sher Mohammad

Sher Mohammad was found dead while at the Regional Interrogation Facility (RIF).
Although his cause of death was said to be ischaemic heart disease, his body was found handcuffed,
and bleeding from the ears.

4. Tor Jan

A U.S. soldier reported that Mr. Jan, an Afghan civilian detainee, was killed during struggle
with other soldiers. The investigation found that Mr. Jan died as a result of blunt force trauma to
the head due to a fall while being restrained, and that the manner of death was accidental.

I am attaching the investigative reports (and in the case of Sher Mohammad, an autopsy
report) as Exhibits 1-4 to this letter. In some instances the names of the persons responsible were
redacted, and in the case of Doe 1, the report is only an unclassified summary. I hope you will
include them in the recently announced investigation into war crimes committed by U.S. forces in
Afghanistan.

Sincerely,

/s/ Paul Wolf

______________________
Paul Wolf,
DC Bar #480285