MoD may face hundreds of new torture claims

[cal04]

The inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa while held by the British Army begins tomorrow, with lawyers registering more claims of abuse
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mod-may-face-hundreds-of-new-torture-claims-1742761.html

The Ministry of Defence faces the threat of hundreds of claims for alleged abuse and torture of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers. Lawyers say emerging evidence of abuses, including use of electric shocks, points to a systematic policy of sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation and beatings throughout the occupation of Basra, which must have been authorised by senior officers or politicians and known to hundreds of soldiers. Some 20 Iraqi civilians last week began a fresh round of legal cases claiming human rights abuses against the Ministry of Defence.

Sir William Gage will tomorrow begin his inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa, a recently widowed 26-year-old hotel worker and father of two small children, who was beaten to death by British soldiers while in custody in Iraq in 2003.

Mr Mousa's family, including his father, Dawood Mousa, a former colonel in the Iraqi army, and other civilians who were arrested and beaten at the same time, will travel to London to attend the proceedings in September. Mr Mousa said yesterday: "The questions still remain: Who? And Why? I am eager for this inquiry... we want to know who killed Baha and whether what was going on was part of a wider policy." He said he hoped "it will not be a whitewash" and that he was "speechless" when he was not allowed to take part in a military tribunal.

(snip)
Mazin Younis, of the London-based Iraqi League, which carries out initial interviews with claimants, said there were at least another 30 or 40 potential claims. If jurisdiction reached beyond British bases, that number would double, he added. "I absolutely believe there have been incidents from 2004 until 2008," he said. "Thousands of soldiers have either witnessed abuse or co-operated in it. The stories are all very similar. The raid starts at home, they are kicked and beaten and hooded."

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[sakabatou]

2. This doesn't surprise me.