A report released today into the death of Iraqi detainee, Baha Mousa, has accused British soldiers A report released today into the death of Iraqi detainee, Baha Mousa, has accused British soldiers of inflicting “violent and cowardly” assaults on Iraqi civilians. The inquiry, led by the retired appeal court judge, Sir William Gage, provided a damning indictment of the culture within the British armed forces. It also highlighted the wholesale ignorance of officers toward legal provisions surrounding the basic rights of prisoners. The inquiry explored the death of Baha Mousa in the custody of British armed forces in Iraq. Mousa, a 26-year-old receptionist at the Hotel Ibn al Haitham in Basra, was arrested along with six other employees by the 1st Battalion Queen’s Lancashire Regiment (1QLR) on September 14th, 2003.
Gage believes that it is “highly unlikely that the detainees or any of them were in fact involved in insurgent or terrorist activity.”
Mousa died in custody 36 hours after his arrest, in which time he had undergone long periods of questioning, and had been hooded and deprived of food and water. Mousa was violently assaulted on numerous times in the days prior to his death. He was beaten by Corporal Donald Payne and Private Aaron Cooper in the hour before his death. The inquiry found that the combination of 93 separate external injuries, internal injuries and the lack of food and water, heat and exhaustion proved deadly.
Gage said in a statement, “My judgment is that they constituted an appalling episode of serious, gratuitous violence on civilians which resulted in the death of one man and injuries to others.  They represented a very serious breach of discipline.”
Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, has told the House of Commons that the events leading to Mousa’s death were \"deplorable, shocking and shameful.”
The report also found that the 1QLR hooded detainees for almost the entirety of their custody, a move which Gage considers “unjustified and wholly unacceptable.” The 1QLR also forced the detainees into stress positions. Hooding and forcing detainees into the stress position was banned by the UK in 1972. These techniques are illegal under the Geneva Convention.
The inquiry highlighted the culpability of some members of the 1QLF, in particular Corporal Donald Payne, the Provost Corporal who was directly responsible for the welfare of the detainees. The report accuses Payne of committing \"dreadful catalogue of unjustified and brutal violence on the defenceless detainees.\" He is described as a \"violent bully.” Gage alleged that Payne “instigated and orchestrated” assaults on detainees, including an odious strategy that Payne dubbed the “choir,” where he punched or kicked each detainee in sequence, causing each to admit a groan or sound of distress. Gage believes that Payne “bears a very heavy responsibility for what happened in the TDF (Temporary Detention Facility).”
The inquiry also singled out Lt Craig Rodgers, the Multiple Commander, who knew that assaults had taken place, but did not attempt to control his soldiers or report the incidents to his superiors. It also charges Major Michael Peebles, the Battlegroup Internment Review Officer, with responsibility. Peebles was aware that detainees had been assaulted prior to Mousa’s death, and failed to prevent hooding and the use of stress positions. Finally, the report highlighted the role of Lt Col Jorge Mendonça, the commanding officer of 1QLR, whose ignorance of the assaults did not excuse his responsibility for the actions of the soldiers.
Gage also slammed the MoD for its “systematic failure” to provide guidelines for the treatment of detainees. He argues that the written doctrine for prisoner handling did not contain information about banned interrogation techniques (including hooding and using the stress position) and formal training did not properly address the issue, ensuring that many soldiers were not adequately educated about the legal restrictions on interrogations.
Lee Hughes, the secretary of the inquiry, says that the report has now been handed to the Crown Prosecution Service which will decide whether to take action against the individuals involved.
\"The chairman has no powers to find criminal responsibility. It\'s for the prosecution authorities to decide,\" he said.
Amnesty international welcomed the report, but insisted that those involved must be brought to justice. Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International said: “What happened to Baha Mousa and the other men detained with him at  the hands of British soldiers must never be allowed to happen again.  Whatever the pressures the soldiers may have faced in Iraq during that  time, torture can never be justified in any circumstances.”
“Those responsible must be held accountable for their actions and  brought swiftly to justice, including in criminal proceedings – nothing less will do”. The inquiry, which took just over three years, cost £13m and includes 73 recommendations, which largely call for more stringent controls over the British handling of prisoners of war, better education for soldiers and the imposition of an absolute ban on hooding.