Abed Hamed Mowhoush () was an Iraqi air vice-marshal believed to be in command of the transport, logistics and airlifting division of the Iraqi Air Force during the regime of Saddam Hussein immediately prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, until his surrender to United States forces on 10 November 2003. He died on 26 November 2003 while in U.S. custody at the Al-Qaim detention facility approximately northwest of Baghdad, following a 16-day period of detention.

Mowhoush was commissioned as a heavy transport and airlift pilot officer in 1969 and commanded a wing of An-12 and An-26 heavy cargo planes during the Iran–Iraq War. He was in charge of airlifting logistics operations in the Iraqi Southern Air Command during the Gulf War. He was promoted to brigadier/air commodore rank in 1991 and in 1994 placed in charge of the Eastern Air Command. He was appointed as the commander of the Transport and Strategic Airlifting Command in 1999. He had a total of 3125 hours of logged flying experience on his log from 1969 until 1997 on the An-12, Il-76, and An-26.

U.S. forces initially claimed that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid and that he had died of natural causes, but The Washington Post later reported that he had given himself up in an effort to secure the release of his sons. In 2005, four U.S. servicemen were charged in relation to the killing. His death was initially attributed to "natural causes" by coalition forces, with the official military report stated that "Mowhoush said he didn't feel well and subsequently lost consciousness". However, when the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal erupted, the Pentagon acknowledged that the autopsy report indicated that the cause of death was "asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression", and that his body showed "evidence of blunt force trauma to the chest and legs". The report further stated that the general had suffocated "during interrogation by military intelligence, after having been interrogated by the CIA".

According to The Washington Post:

<blockquote>Senior officers in charge of the facility near the Syrian border believed that such 'claustrophobic techniques' were approved ways to gain information from detainees, part of what military regulations refer to as a "fear up" tactic, according to military court documents.</blockquote>

The delay in the arrest of the accused was reportedly a result of their commanding officer, Colonel David Teeples, being reluctant to pursue charges and preferring a simple reprimand. It was not until the Denver Post ran a series of articles exposing the lenient treatment of the accused that military lawyers commenced prosecution proceedings under military law. Documents revealed during these proceedings confirmed that Mowhoush was physically abused and met his death at the hands of military interrogators:

<blockquote>It was inside the sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.

References

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The following categories contain articles about individuals who almost all have Arabic names. Arabic names don't have European style surnames that are inherited, father to son. So, there is no point changing the order in which they are sorted in the categories. Thanks!

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  • Human Rights First; Behind the Wire: An Update to Ending Secret Detentions (2005)
  • Human Rights First; Command’s Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan