AARDIG
16-08-05, 14:14
British troops face new scandal of prisoner abuse
8/16/2005 8:15:00 AM GMT
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/pics/9527.jpg
Three UK soldier are facing war crimes charges of inflicting "inhuman treatment" on detainees
The British troops in Iraq are facing fresh allegations of abusing Iraqi detainees.
In last night's Newsnight on BBC Two, two Iraqi brothers Marhab and As'ad Zaaj-al-Saghir said they were abused by British soldiers who raided their home in Basra in 2003.
The two said they were arrested and taken to a detention camp weeks after the U.S.-led troops invaded Iraq. They said they were beaten by the British troops and denied water and sleep.
One of them also said a soldier urinated on his head while the other said he was detained for 31 days without sleep. Both brothers said that British troops stole their family car and cash.
"They lowered me down...while I was tied up, threw me on the floor and hit me with a stick. You couldn't draw breath afterwards and I lost consciousness. I thought they would throw water over us but he got his penis out and urinated on my head." Marhab said.
"If I'd had a weapon I'd have killed myself," he added.
The U.S. army said earlier that both men were released without charge from the Umm Qasr camp one month after they were arrested.
Another former detainee, identified as Hani Jahoush, told Newsnight that he was detained for more than two months without charge. He said UK soldiers punched him and forced him to make monkey noises and bark like a dog.
Newsnight said the men's accounts are similar to several other abuse allegations in a classified report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which stated that detainees at Umm Qasr, where the men were detained, were "routinely treated by their guards with general contempt, with petty violence".
Marhab and As'ad Zaaj-al-Saghir have not made an official complaint, but they’re asking to be compensated for the car and cash the UK troops stole.
The Ministry of Defense said it only investigated complaints officially reported to it.
"We have a robust system for investigating incidents involving the death, injury or alleged ill-treatment of civilians on operations. The army has shown its determination to investigate allegations of serious wrongdoing, and, where there is sufficient evidence, to call individuals to account before the courts." (Lekker objectief :jammer: )
The ministry says it carried 177 investigations into alleged abuse by UK soldiers, adding that 156 inquiries have been closed with no further action taken.
A spokesman told Newsnight that only five investigations stemmed from serious complaints of abuse in detention, while the majority involved incidents where the soldiers claim they returned gunfire after they were attacked, or were related to traffic incidents caused by British forces.
One of the serious abuse allegations was at Camp Breadbasket in Basra, over which three soldiers were convicted. In July, seven UK soldiers were charged for killing Iraqi hotel receptionist Baha Mousa.
But the lawyer representing Mousa's family says he is looking into several other illegal killings and 50 of torture and beatings.
Basra-based Bassam al-Tamimi also said the British army has considered 20 of these abuse allegations and either offered some compensation or ruled that it could do nothing.
He added that it was hard to get the information reached by the Army's legal department or top officers, because he said relevant documents were shredded or thrown into the bin.
ALJAZEERA (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=9527)
8/16/2005 8:15:00 AM GMT
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/pics/9527.jpg
Three UK soldier are facing war crimes charges of inflicting "inhuman treatment" on detainees
The British troops in Iraq are facing fresh allegations of abusing Iraqi detainees.
In last night's Newsnight on BBC Two, two Iraqi brothers Marhab and As'ad Zaaj-al-Saghir said they were abused by British soldiers who raided their home in Basra in 2003.
The two said they were arrested and taken to a detention camp weeks after the U.S.-led troops invaded Iraq. They said they were beaten by the British troops and denied water and sleep.
One of them also said a soldier urinated on his head while the other said he was detained for 31 days without sleep. Both brothers said that British troops stole their family car and cash.
"They lowered me down...while I was tied up, threw me on the floor and hit me with a stick. You couldn't draw breath afterwards and I lost consciousness. I thought they would throw water over us but he got his penis out and urinated on my head." Marhab said.
"If I'd had a weapon I'd have killed myself," he added.
The U.S. army said earlier that both men were released without charge from the Umm Qasr camp one month after they were arrested.
Another former detainee, identified as Hani Jahoush, told Newsnight that he was detained for more than two months without charge. He said UK soldiers punched him and forced him to make monkey noises and bark like a dog.
Newsnight said the men's accounts are similar to several other abuse allegations in a classified report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which stated that detainees at Umm Qasr, where the men were detained, were "routinely treated by their guards with general contempt, with petty violence".
Marhab and As'ad Zaaj-al-Saghir have not made an official complaint, but they’re asking to be compensated for the car and cash the UK troops stole.
The Ministry of Defense said it only investigated complaints officially reported to it.
"We have a robust system for investigating incidents involving the death, injury or alleged ill-treatment of civilians on operations. The army has shown its determination to investigate allegations of serious wrongdoing, and, where there is sufficient evidence, to call individuals to account before the courts." (Lekker objectief :jammer: )
The ministry says it carried 177 investigations into alleged abuse by UK soldiers, adding that 156 inquiries have been closed with no further action taken.
A spokesman told Newsnight that only five investigations stemmed from serious complaints of abuse in detention, while the majority involved incidents where the soldiers claim they returned gunfire after they were attacked, or were related to traffic incidents caused by British forces.
One of the serious abuse allegations was at Camp Breadbasket in Basra, over which three soldiers were convicted. In July, seven UK soldiers were charged for killing Iraqi hotel receptionist Baha Mousa.
But the lawyer representing Mousa's family says he is looking into several other illegal killings and 50 of torture and beatings.
Basra-based Bassam al-Tamimi also said the British army has considered 20 of these abuse allegations and either offered some compensation or ruled that it could do nothing.
He added that it was hard to get the information reached by the Army's legal department or top officers, because he said relevant documents were shredded or thrown into the bin.
ALJAZEERA (http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=9527)