UK abuses in Iraq

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BBC

5 November 2010

Iraqi civilians systematically abused, court hears

More than 220 Iraqi civilians were subjected to "systemic abuse", including torture, by British soldiers and interrogators in Iraq, the High Court was told on Friday.

Solicitors acting on behalf of the Iraqis submitted video evidence to support their claims.

They are appealing for a judical review of a refusal by Defence Secretary Liam Fox to order a wide-ranging public inquiry into allegations that abuse was widespread.

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said a dedicated team had already been set up to investigate.

The Iraqi civilians complain the abuse occurred during the period from March 2003 to December 2008 in British-controlled detention facilities in Iraq following the war to oust Saddam Hussein.

Allegations of mistreatment include sexual abuse, food, water and sleep deprivation, prolonged solitary confinement, mock executions and being denied clothes.

The High Court application is being made by the Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) group.

Over the past few months, the lawyers have documented a mounting number of complaints.

Michael Fordham QC, appearing for the Iraqis, said: "There are credible allegations of serious, inhumane practices across a whole range of dates and facilities concerning British military detention in Iraq."

Referring to the prison which became notorious for allegations of torture and abuse against US soldiers, he asked: "Is this Britain's Abu Ghraib?"

Effective investigation

A MoD spokesman said: "These remain unproven allegations of mistreatment.

"The MoD takes all allegations seriously and has already set up the dedicated Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) to investigate them.

"The IHAT is the most effective way of investigating these unproven allegations rather than a costly public inquiry."

Two public inquiries have already been launched into similar claims.

The first inquiry into the death of 26-year-old hotel worker Baha Mousa in UK military custody in September 2003, began hearing evidence last July.

And last November, the MoD announced details of a second public hearing into allegations that 19-year-old Hamid Al-Sweady and up to 19 other Iraqis were unlawfully killed and others ill-treated at a British base in May 2004.

But the PIL group say the two inquiries only cover a fraction of the cases, and that examining the allegations piecemeal would mean that many cases would never see the light of day.

They also argue that the IHAT group - a mixed team of military police and civilian investigators led by a former senior police officer - lacks the necessary independence to carry out a proper investigation.

Speaking before the start of the hearing at London's Law Court, Phil Shiner, who is representing the Iraqis, said it was nonsense to suggest - as he said the MoD did - that abuse had been confined to a "few bad apples".

He added: "That is absolutely not the case. There are very serious allegations related to very troubling systemic abuse."

The hearing is expected to last three days.


Iraqi eyewitness: Mistreatment by UK troops

The High Court in London will is hearing allegations that 142 Iraqis were mistreated by British forces in Iraq between 2003 and 2008.

Ali Zaki Mousa is one of those who alleges he was mistreated by British forces in Iraq in 2006. He spoke to BBC World Service.

Ali Zaki Mousa, a former taxi driver who lives in Basra, Iraq.

At about 0200 in the morning, while I was asleep with my wife and my little baby daughter, I was woken by the sound of an explosion. British soldiers immediately started firing shots, and smoke and stun grenades, and capsules which looked like ammunition.

My father, he's 62, he'd been sleeping in the front room; he started screaming. I put my little daughter down and I looked around, and then the soldiers started hitting me in the chest and genitals.

The soldiers forced me to kneel facing the wall and tied my hands with plastic handcuffs. Then they started kicking me and swearing at me. They kept using the "f" word and telling me to shut up.

I was beaten heavily around the eyes and my face became all swollen. One soldier pointed his rifle at my mouth; then they beat me heavily in the back around my kidneys using their rifle butts. The following morning I noticed there was blood in my urine.

Later on I found out that while I was in detention, British soldiers carried out intrusive searches of our women, including my relatives. They also beat my elderly father and my brother.

Then they blindfolded me and pulled me outside in my sleeping clothes and barefoot, and forced me to get into a tank. Then we were taken to Basra airport.

During the investigation with me in Basra International Airport, they accused me and some of my neighbours of being affiliated with militias and they said our area was under the control of militias.

They pulled me out of the tank and forced me to kneel with my head down and my hands tied behind my back. It was incredibly painful.

The more I screamed the more they kicked me. They tightened the plastic handcuffs further, and honestly they were very painful.

The time must have been about 0330 to 0400 in the morning when the soldiers started to beat the detainees in Basra airport one after the other, and I was one of them; they then interviewed us individually in a tent.

[They] accused me of being a member of the militias and that is not true. They threatened to remove my nails using pincers, and they threatened to remove my underwear and to force me to sexually assault myself using a bottle.

I was eventually released after I'd been in detention for 12 months.

[I was never charged,] except the accusation that me and my brothers were linked to the militias.

My father died recently and his body carried the marks of wounds as a result of beatings and punches from British soldiers.

I have my daughter, she was born before the detention. Now, 5 years on, I can't have any more children, and I still have the marks of the beatings on my back, around my kidneys and on my genitals.

Psychologically, I can't cope with any pressure from my wife or my child; if my wife talks to me about things I can't manage, I lose my temper and I beat her. All this is caused by the beating and the abuse I was subjected to by the British forces.

When the British forces first came into Iraq, the Iraqi people were so delighted at the defeat of Saddam the dictator, but then when British forces started behaving so badly, not only me, but all the Iraqi people, changed their view of the British troops.

We used to look at them as people who had come to help us, but they completely turned against us - with their tanks shooting in the streets, and the continued arrests without any legitimate or legal cause or proof. To us now they are no more than a pack of savage wolves.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11696329
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