In other news, a former CIA contractor has been convicted over the severe beating of an Afghan prisoner. According to witnesses, the contractor, David Passaro, beat young Afghan farmer Abu Wali with his fists and a flashlight. Wali died the next day. Passaro’s defense team tried to subpoena senior US officials in an effort to prove the beatings were implicitly authorized at the highest level. Passaro is the first civilian to be convicted for abusing a detainee in US custody. He faces up to eleven years in prison.