London - A line was drawn Thursday under one of the most
notorious episodes of Britain's involvement in Iraq when the
government agreed to pay nearly 3 million pounds (5.9 million
dollars) to 'torture' victims and admitted liability for
'substantive' human rights breaches.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that it had agreed to pay
2.83 million pounds in compensation to the relatives of Baha Mousa,
who died from beating in British detention in Basra in September,
2003, and nine other men who suffered mistreatment by soldiers.
The pay-out was agreed during two days of 'intensive negotiations'
between the group and the Ministry of Defence in London, law firm
Leigh Day & Co said.
'Our clients have been through hell over the last few years and
this settlement will go some way to enabling our clients to have some
semblance of a decent future life,' said Martyn Day, senior partner
in the firm.
The MoD said in a statement it was 'pleased that an amicable
settlement' had been reached through mediation.
'The settlement is with an admission of liability by the Ministry
of Defence ... for substantive breaches of Article 2 (right to life)
and 3 (prohibition of torture) of the European Convention on Human
Rights,' the statement said.
The death in detention of Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist,
and the maltreatment of nine other men, cast a dark shadow over the
conduct of British forces in southern Iraq soon after the invasion
and led lawyers to call for a 'broad inquiry into the British Army's
detention policy.'
The government, and the Army, have apologized for the 'disgraceful
incident' while stressing that the vast majority of Britain's troops
in Iraq had conducted themselves 'to the highest standard of
behaviour.'
Investigations showed that Mousa, a father of two, died from 93
separate injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken nose, after
British troops raided the hotel for weapons and accused him of being
an insurgent.
Mousa's father, Daoud, who has been leading the fight for
compensation, told the High Court in London in 2004 that he was
'horrified' by the state of his son's body he was asked to identify.
'I burst into tears and I still cannot bear to think about what I
saw. Every time I tell this story I break down,' he said.
A large part of the compensation is for Mousa's two young sons,
who were orphaned after their mother died from cancer shortly before
the hotel raid.
A court martial held in Britain last year heard that Mousa and the
other men were tied and hooded and repeatedly kicked and assaulted by
troops during the raid.
Witness Ahmad Taha Musa Al-Matairi told the court martial that the
seven soldiers involved in the raid took bets on who would make Mousa
fall down.
'They celebrated beating him and a group of other Iraqis like it
was Christmas,' said the witness at the court martial.
The military trial, dismissed by critics as an 'inadequate tool'
to tackle human rights offences, ended in March 2007 with the
acquittal of six of the men.
A seventh, Corporal Donald Payne, who admitted to having treated
the Iraqis 'inhumanely,' was jailed for a year and dismissed from the
army.
But his seniors in the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, including
commanding officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca, were cleared of all
charges.
The prosecution alleged that Mendonca, the highest-ranking British
soldiers ever to face a court martial, had never 'questioned the
legality' of his men's conduct and allowed them to abuse the Iraqis
in direct breach of human rights conventions.
When asked by the prosecution if he had heard screams coming from
the building where the alleged abuse took place, Mendonca told the
court martial: 'I express incredulity at that comment.'
No Charges for Atrocities ans War CrimesJul 11th, 2008 - 02:39:29
No one will never know who many innocent Iraqis and others have beem murdered at the hands of american and british soldiers, or how many innocent people have had the lives ruined as a result of the unnecessary and unprovoked war started by the US with Iraq and supported by Britian and others. Yet, every soldier in the military who goes to Iraq is called a hero and given a get out of jail free card for whatever atrocities and war crimes he commits against Iraqi people. I am told by many that the atrocities and injustices committed are simply the reality of war. If so, this is sufficient reason for Bush and his neocon cronies to be charged with war crime for starting an unnecessary and unprovoked war with Iraq, a war of choice.
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