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Hill JAG helps restore law, order in Iraq

  • Published
  • By Kari Tilton
  • 419th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  After Saddam Hussein's 24-year reign ended, the justice system in Iraq lay in shambles. Today U.S. forces are working with Iraqi police and judges to lay the foundation for a fair and effective judicial system.

A reservist from the 419th Fighter Wing returned earlier this summer from a six-month deployment to Baghdad where he worked to bring law and order to the struggling nation.

"The Iraqi judicial and legal systems were mostly defunct and still suffer from elements of corruption" said Lt. Col. Craig Simper, wing judge advocate general.

While in Iraq, Colonel Simper served as the assistant director for a multi-national team charged with investigating major terror and corruption-related crimes within the Iraqi government.

Known as the Law and Order Task Force, the team was made up of U.S. attorneys and investigators as well as Iraqi police and interpreters. The task force investigated murder, extortion and kidnapping cases.

In one noteworthy case, the task force secured arrest warrants against top leaders of the Mahdi Army in Sadr City for the abduction of five British contractors last year.

In another, the task force conducted a politically sensitive inquiry into a juvenile detention facility suspected of operating a torture cell.

The task force routinely traveled "outside the wire" to collect evidence and interview witnesses. Small arms fire, and rocket and mortar launches were commonplace.

Colonel Simper received the Bronze Star for his service with the task force.

The award citation stated: "Colonel Simper led aggressive investigations and doggedly pursued justice within the Iraqi legal system by developing the evidence for and securing criminal warrants for kidnapping, extortion, and murder against high-ranking criminal elements within Jaysh al-Mahdi and the Iraqi Army and National Police."

Members of the task force also had to educate their Iraqi counterparts on how to conduct evidence-based investigations.

"The Iraqi legal system, in the past, tended to be one that was confession based versus evidence based," Colonel Simper said. "It was not uncommon for police investigators to beat confessions out of the accused. Our challenge was to show them a better way."

The team taught Iraqi investigators how to build solid cases through evidence collection and the use of forensic science and computer technology rather than intimidation and violence.

"We wanted our knowledge of evidence-based investigations to serve as a model for future criminal investigations in Iraq," Colonel Simper said.

The task force also worked to ensure the Iraqi judges are able to make sound rulings. This came by way of protection for the judges and their families who are often targets of sectarian violence. Iraqi judges now live in a fortified complex surrounded by 12-foot walls and guard towers.

""Judges in Iraq get killed for doing the right thing," Colonel Simper said. "We need to keep them safe so that the judicial system is free of intimidation and fear."

Colonel Simper hopes that once Iraqi judges and police investigators have the tools and the safety net to carry out their duties, they will gain the trust of the Iraqi citizens.

"We presented a clear vision of judicial justice to the Iraqis," Colonel Simper said. "It's going to be a long road, but we've planted the seeds."  (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)