- LONDON (Reuters) -- Laughing
British soldiers tortured Iraqi detainees by beating and kicking them,
pouring freezing water on their heads and forcing them to recite names
of English and Dutch football stars, a court heard on Wednesday.
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- The accusations -- which throw the spotlight back on
troop behavior in the U.S.-led occupation -- came from an Iraqi witness
at London's High Court where families of six dead civilians have launched
a test case against UK soldiers.
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- "The soldiers appeared to be thoroughly enjoying
themselves as the beating was accompanied by laughter," said Kifah
Taha al-Mutari. He was arrested in September, 2003, along with one of the
six dead Iraqis, Baha Mousa, in a raid on a hotel in Basra.
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- Mousa later died in custody after alleged severe beatings.
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- "I could hear him moaning through the walls,"
added Mutari, whose statement was read out in his presence. "I heard
him say 'I am dying ... blood ... blood.' I heard nothing further."
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- Relatives of the Iraqi civilians who died, represented
by British lawyer Phil Shiner, are demanding that judges force Tony Blair's
government to open independent probes.
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- The case is expected to last to the end of the week.
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- Families say five of the six Iraqis were shot dead after
the war while going about their daily lives -- at home, attending a funeral,
driving home from work, visiting a judge and eating dinner -- in the British-controlled
southern region of Iraq.
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- The sixth and best-known case is Mousa.
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- His former colleague Mutari gave the court a graphic
depiction of their arrest, along with five other hotel workers.
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- "DANCE LIKE JACKSON"
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- "They took me and the other detainees to the hotel
toilets and started to beat us with their fists and boots. They made us
lie on the floor and soldiers stood on our heads," he said. One of
the detainees was made to stand inside a large oriental-style toilet where
the flush was turned on to humiliate him, he added.
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- At a military base in Basra, soldiers later beat the
hooded detainees on their neck, chest and genitals, Mutari alleged.
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- "We were given water by it being poured over the
hood so that we had to lick droplets that seeped through the hood. Freezing
water was poured on to us and this was very painful."
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- One soldier asked them to "dance like Michael Jackson"
while others made them recite names of English or Dutch footballers "or
we would be beaten severely," Mutari said.
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- Abuse allegations against occupying soldiers came to
a head earlier this year with graphic images of U.S. soldiers' mistreatment
of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail.
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- If the High Court allows independent inquiries into Wednesday's
cases, involving five men and one woman, that could pave the way for many
more claims, plus possible prosecutions and large compensation bills.
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- Britain's Ministry of Defense said it was "robustly"
contending the Iraqis' central argument that the European Convention on
Human Rights should apply to UK soldiers and that their own internal investigations
were inadequate.
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- "UK armed forces operate in Iraq in accordance with
relevant English law," a ministry spokesman said.
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- "It is not the position of the defendant and the
UK government that the conduct of British forces in Iraq should not be
subject to stringent standards of control and accountability," added
government lawyer Christopher Greenwood.
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- In papers presented to the court, he said army prosecutors
had recommended charging soldiers in Mousa's case.
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- Britain sent 45,000 troops to the Gulf for last year's
invasion and still has 8,100 soldiers in Iraq.
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