Iraqi abuse by army ‘appalling’

8 September 2011 Last updated at 06:58 ET

An Iraqi man died after suffering an “appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence” in a “very serious breach of discipline” by UK soldiers, a year-long inquiry has found.

Its chairman, Sir William Gage, condemned “corporate failure” at the Ministry of Defence over the use of banned interrogation methods in Iraq.

Baha Mousa died with 93 injuries in British army custody in Basra in 2003.

The MoD says it will consider carefully any recommendations from the inquiry.

Mr Mousa was arrested, along with nine other Iraqis, at the Haitham Hotel in Basra on 14 September 2003 by members of the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment.

Sir William said a “large number” of soldiers assaulted Mr Mousa and the other detainees, and he added that many others – including several officers – must have known what was happening.

He condemned members of the battalion for their “lack of moral courage to report abuse”.

Mr Mousa, a father-of-two, died two days after his arrest.

The inquiry concluded that his death was caused by a combination of his weakened physical state and a final struggle with his guards.

Cpl Donald Payne had violently assaulted Mr Mousa in the minutes before he died, punching and possibly kicking him, and using a dangerous restraint method, the inquiry found.

While this was a “contributory cause” in the death, Mr Mousa had already been weakened by factors including lack of food and water, heat, exhaustion, fear, previous injuries and the hooding and stress positions used by British troops.

Sir William said Payne was a “violent bully” who inflicted a “dreadful catalogue of unjustified and brutal violence” on the detainees, also encouraging more junior soldiers to do the same.

His abuse included striking each of the detainees in turn in order to elicit cries of pain and create a “choir” effect.

Payne admitted inhumane treatment at a court martial in 2007, was jailed for a year and dismissed from the Army.

“Such an incident should not have happened and should never happen again,” Sir William said, as he published his 1,400-page final report on Thursday.

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