In June 2003, Abdul Wali, an Afghan farmer from Kunar province, died while in U.S. custody after voluntarily turning himself in to American forces. He had surrendered in the hope of clearing his name after being suspected of involvement in local attacks.
While detained at a U.S. base, Wali was repeatedly beaten during interrogation by David Passaro, a U.S. contractor working alongside CIA personnel. Witness testimony later described how Wali was punched, kicked, struck with a heavy flashlight, deprived of sleep, and denied proper food over a period of days.
Wali died in detention. No formal autopsy was conducted, but military and legal investigations followed. In 2006, Passaro became the first civilian contractor to be prosecuted in U.S. federal court for abuse of a detainee overseas. He was convicted of assault for his role in Wali’s death and sentenced to prison, a conviction later upheld on appeal.
Abdul Wali’s case remains one of the most documented examples of detainee abuse during the early years of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.
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