Haditha massacre
The Haditha massacre (also called the Haditha killings or the Haditha incident) was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The killings occurred in Haditha, a city in Iraq's western province of Al Anbar. Among the dead were men, women, elderly people and children as young as 1, who were shot multiple times at close range while unarmed. It was alleged that the killings were a response to the attack on a convoy of Marines with an improvised explosive device that killed Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas.

An initial Marine Corps communique reported that 15 civilians were killed by the bomb's blast and eight insurgents were subsequently killed when the Marines returned fire against those attacking the convoy. However, other evidence uncovered by the media contradicted the Marines' account. A "Time" magazine reporter's questions prompted the United States military to open an investigation into the incident. The investigation found evidence that "supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot civilians", according to an anonymous Pentagon official. Three officers were officially reprimanded for failing to properly initially report and investigate the killings. On December 21, 2006, eight Marines from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines were charged in connection with the incident.

By June 17, 2008, six defendants had their cases dropped and a seventh was found not guilty. The exception was former Staff Sergeant, now-Private Frank Wuterich. On October 3, 2007, the Article 32 hearing investigating officer recommended that charges of murder be dropped and Wuterich be tried for negligent homicide in the deaths of two women and five children. Further charges of assault and manslaughter were ultimately dropped; Wuterich was convicted of a single count of negligent dereliction of duty on January 24, 2012. Wuterich received a rank reduction and pay cut but avoided jail time. Iraqis expressed disbelief and voiced outrage after the six-year U.S. military prosecution ended with none of the Marines sentenced to incarceration. A lawyer for the victims stated "this is an assault on humanity" before adding that he, as well as the Government of Iraq, might bring the case to international courts.
Q11218
United States Marines
Concept
Q206887
civilian
Concept
Q944368
Haditha
LOC
Q796
Iraq
LOC
Q187334
Al Anbar
LOC
Q1249453
improvised explosive device
Concept
Q43297
"Time"
MEDIA
Q11211
United States military
ORG
Q3142800
anonymous
Concept
Q4636678
3rd Battalion, 1st Marines
ORG
Q1304816
Frank Wuterich
PER
Q4800877
Article 32 hearing
Concept
Q641449
negligent homicide
Concept
Q5262522
dereliction of duty
Concept
Q981327
Haditha massacre
Concept
2005-11-19T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 19, 2005
DATE
2006-12-21T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 21, 2006
DATE
2008-06-17T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
June 17, 2008
DATE
2007-10-03T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
October 3, 2007
DATE
2012-01-24T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
January 24, 2012
DATE
+24^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
24
NUMBER
+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
NUMBER
+15^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
15
NUMBER
+3^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
3
NUMBER
+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
NUMBER
+32^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
32
NUMBER
point in time
number of deaths
location
country
country
located in the administrative territorial entity