- Eight young Iraqis arrested in Basra were kicked and
assaulted by British soldiers, one of them so badly that he died in British
custody, according to military and medical records seen by The Independent
on Sunday.
-
- Amnesty International has urged its members to protest
directly to Tony Blair about the death of Baha Mousa, the son of an Iraqi
police colonel, and to demand an impartial and independent investigation
into the apparent torture of the Basra prisoners. A major at 33 Field Hospital
outside the southern Iraqi city said that one of the survivors suffered
"acute renal failure" after "he was assaulted ... and sustained
severe bruising to his upper abdomen, right side of chest, left forearms
and left upper inner thigh".
-
- British military authorities have offered Mr Mousa's
relatives $8,000 (£4,500) in compensation, providing they are not
held responsible for his death, but the young hotel receptionist's family
plans to take the Ministry of Defence to court. His body was returned to
them, covered in bruises and with his nose broken, after he and seven colleagues
were arrested by British forces in Basra last September and held in military
custody for three days.
-
- One of the other workers has given a frightening account
of their ordeal. Baha Mousa, he says, was tied and hooded and then repeatedly
kicked and assaulted by British troops, begging all the while to have the
hood removed because he could no longer breathe.
-
- A death certificate provided by the British Army states
that Baha Mousa had died of "asphyxia". A restricted medical
document from a British hospital says a surviving prisoner, Kifah Taha,
suffered his injuries "due to a severe beating". The IoS has
copies of both documents.
-
- After Mr Mousa's death, the Army's Special Investigation
Branch opened an investigation. The Ministry of Defence told the IoS yesterday
that there was "nothing in the records to suggest an inquiry was not
still ongoing". But two soldiers who were arrested have since been
released, and no charges have been made.
-
- Mr Mousa's violent death left two children orphaned:
his 22-year-old wife died of cancer shortly before his detention by British
troops.
|
