Baha Mousa inquiry report to attack senior British army officers

Eight years after death of Iraq hotel worker in army detention, judge expected to criticise catalogue of failings An unprecedented, two-year public inquiry into the conduct of British soldiers in Iraq is expected to report stinging criticism of senior army officers and their legal advisers, and highlight the failure to pass orders down the chain of command. The inquiry’s report into the September 2003 death of Baha Mousa , a Basra hotel worker, is also understood to include scathing criticism of military intelligence officers and of the lack of training and preparation British troops received for the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. The report by retired appeal court judge Sir William Gage, to be published on Thursday, is unlikely to accuse the army of systematic torture since his terms of reference are limited to the circumstances surrounding Mousa’s death. Lawyers acting for families of Iraqis detained by British troops, however, have since collected fresh material which they claim does point to widespread abuse. They are demanding another public inquiry into wider allegations surrounding the abuse of more than 200 Iraqi detainees held near Basra. They are also expected to demand the prosecution of individual soldiers or officials. Gage is expected to point to a catalogue of failings that led to the death of 26-year-old Mousa, who was arrested with nine other Iraqis at the Haitham hotel in Basra by soldiers of the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment (QLR). Rifles, bayonets and suspected bomb-making equipment were found at the scene but there was no evidence that they had been used against British troops. Mousa died after 36 hours in detention. A postmortem found he had suffered asphyxiation and at least 93 injuries to his body, including fractured ribs and a broken nose. Sir Michael Jackson, Britain’s top general at the time, described the episode as “a stain on the character of the British army”. At the end of a six-month court martial , six members of the QLR, including the regiment’s commanding officer, Colonel Jorge Mendonca, were cleared of abuse and negligence. A seventh, Corporal Donald Payne, who pleaded guilty, was jailed for a year and dismissed from the army. The court martial judge accused the soldiers of closing ranks, a charge Gage might echo. Des Browne, then defence secretary, set up a public inquiry in 2008, when the MoD admitted soldiers had breached the terms of the Human Rights Act. The inquiry opened in 2009 and heard evidence from nearly 250 witnesses. It was told that British troops used interrogation techniques – hooding, deprivation of sleep, food and drink, subjection to noise and wall-standing – outlawed by the UK government in March 1972 after an investigation into interrogation in Northern Ireland. The Gage inquiry heard that senior officers were unaware of the 1972 ban and were confused or ignorant of their obligations under domestic and international law. The detainees’ closing submissions noted: “From the chain of command to the medical staff and even to the padre, no one was prepared to speak up for what was right and report what was wrong.” Eight or more civilians died in the custody of British troops in the weeks after the invasion of Iraq, despite frequent warnings by the army’s most senior legal adviser there about unlawful treatment of detainees, the inquiry heard. Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Mercer described the way Iraqi detainees were intimidated and hooded by British soldiers as “repulsive”. He said that 10 days after the invasion in March 2003 he saw 20 or 30 detainees lined up with sandbags on their heads. He was shocked, he said, adding that it was “a bit like seeing pictures of Guantánamo Bay for the first time”. Mercer said he had a “massive row” with the commander of the Queens Dragoon Guards about the army’s legal obligations under the Geneva conventions and the European convention on human rights. He had walked out of a meeting between British officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross after being told by a “political adviser” to keep his mouth shut, he added. Gage heard evidence that military and civilian officials tried to downplay the significance of Mousa’s death and dissembled when MPs asked about the circumstances surrounding it. He also heard how the Ministry of Defence’s top legal advisers failed to seek the advice of Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, who was known to take the view that British troops in Iraq were bound by the Human Rights Act. Liam Fox, the defence secretary, is expected to tell the Commons on Thursday that the MoD and the army have learned lessons from Baha Mousa’s death and from evidence to the Gage inquiry. General Sir Peter Wall, head of the army, is also expected to make a statement. Baha Mousa Iraq Middle East Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 7, 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.