Eight deaths were ruled justifiable killings. In those cases, soldiers followed so-called standard rules of engagement and killed detainees either to protect other troops or prevent prisoners from escaping, the senior military medical official said.
Two are wrongful deaths, while as many as nine are homicides still under investigation. The remaining three are in a special category because they occurred outside of any detention facility.
Among the cases is a fatal shooting at southern Iraq's Camp Bucca in April 2003 that the Army ruled justifiable. But a Red Cross team that witnessed the incident at the facility concluded that "at no point" did the prisoner pose a serious threat to guards.
The deaths of the others deemed justifiable homicides all occurred at Abu Ghraib -- four in November 2003, one in March 2004 and two in April 2004.
Both of the wrongful deaths were in Iraq.
In a September 2003 incident, a soldier fatally shot a prisoner who was throwing rocks at him at a forward operating base.
He was later downgraded in rank from specialist to private and discharged from the Army, apparently the only soldier to date to be prosecuted for killing a detainee. He was not imprisoned.
The second case, of a CIA contract worker who allegedly killed an Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib in November, was referred to the Justice Department, the official said. As a civilian, the worker could not be prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, officials said.
The Justice Department said Friday that it had received another referral from the Defense Department "regarding a civilian contractor in Iraq" and had opened an investigation. Officials would not say if the incident involved a death. It was the first Justice Department criminal investigation sought by the Pentagon.
The CIA has referred at least two other cases to the department.
Of the nine unresolved homicide cases, three occurred in Afghanistan and six in Iraq, including the two at Abu Ghraib.
In one of the cases, a preliminary assessment has found that an Abu Ghraib detainee died of natural causes, but the investigation is continuing.
Among the specifics offered by the Pentagon were details regarding 23 autopsies by military medical examiners. Twelve of the death certificates concluded that the deaths were from natural causes. One Iraqi death was labeled an accident. One other case is pending; defense officials could provide no information about it.
