Baha Mousa death inquiry will take longer than hoped

Chairman of Baha Mousa inquiry into death while in British forces’ custody in Iraq says findings will be published in September The report of a groundbreaking inquiry into the death of an Iraqi civilian in the custody of British soldiers will be published in the autumn, significantly later than had been hoped. Baha Mousa received 93 injuries while being held with other Iraqi detainees by 1st Battalion the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment in Basra in September 2003. The inquiry’s chairman, Sir William Gage, has said he expected to publish his findings about the case on 8 September, after parliament’s summer recess. Gage, a former appeal court judge, said he had hoped to be able to publish his report sooner. “However, the volume of evidence and the work necessary to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the report has made this difficult to accomplish,” the inquiry said in a statement. Gage is expected to criticise senior army officers and officers in the Ministry of Defence, as well as soldiers. He will notify the individuals concerned of the criticisms he intends to make. They will have the opportunity to respond before Gage draws up his final report. The inquiry into Mousa’s death, and the abuse of nine other Iraqi men detained with him, heard oral evidence from 247 witnesses over 115 days of hearings between July 2009 and October 2010. Though Gage has no power to accuse soldiers of criminal action, prosecutors could use his report to bring charges. Mousa was working as a receptionist at the Ibn al-Haitham hotel in Basra when it was raided by British forces in early on 14 September 2003. They found weapons and fake ID cards in the hotel. Mousa and his colleagues were arrested and taken to the headquarters of the 1st Battalion the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment. The soldiers subjected the Iraqis to humiliating abuse, including “conditioning” methods banned by the British government in 1972 following the abuse of detainees in Northern Ireland. Treatment banned included hooding, sleep deprivation, subjection to noise, and stress positions. Mousa was hooded for nearly 24 of the 36 hours he spent in British detention. He died at about 10pm on 15 September. His wife had died of cancer shortly before he was arrested, meaning his two young sons, Hussein and Hassan, were orphaned. The public inquiry was told that although British military commanders had issued orders confirming the ban on hooding twice in 2003, the practice continued until May 2004. Seven of the battalion’s soldiers, including former commanding officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca, faced a court martial in 2006-07. They were all cleared, apart from Corporal Donald Payne, who became the first member of the British armed forces to be convicted of a war crime when he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilians. The surviving detainees and Mousa’s father have said they are optimistic that action could still be taken against those responsible for the abuse. Baha Mousa Iraq Middle East Military Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 6, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.