A bloody epitaph to Blair's war
The death of a hotel receptionist in British custody was first reported by the IoS. In the week that the Law Lords ruled that the Human Rights Act applies to Iraqis in British custody, Andrew Johnston reveals the shocking witness statements that shed new light on a dark chapter in an illegal war
Independent on Sunday Published: 17 June 2007
Graphic and shocking new information - including a photograph showing his battered and bruised face - about the death of Baha Mousa, the Basra hotel receptionist killed in British military custody in September 2003, has emerged as scores of Iraqis prepare to sue the Ministry of Defence for alleged mistreatment in detention.
The dead man's father, Daoud Mousa al-Maliki, is bringing a case on his son's behalf in the next four weeks, following Wednesday's ruling by the Law Lords that the Human Rights Act applies to civilians arrested and detained by British forces in Iraq. Nine other cases are proceeding at the same time, and solicitors say another 30 are in the pipeline.
Not only do witness statements in the cases shed fresh light on Baha Mousa's death, but, taken together, they also suggest a pattern of abuse by British forces in southern Iraq during the period following the defeat of Saddam Hussein's forces. With Tony Blair's imminent departure from Downing Street, the Government will hope that it is no longer so closely associated with the unpopularity of the war and the questionable means used to prosecute it, especially if most British troops leave in the next few months. But the decision in the House of Lords raises the prospect that their conduct in Iraq will be aired in the courts for years to come.
Adam Price, the Plaid Cymru MP whose parliamentary questions did much to bring the abuse to light, said the Law Lords' judgment would be "a continued headache for the Government, and make it difficult for Gordon Brown to draw a line under the Iraq debacle". Baha Mousa, who had suffered 93 separate injuries according to the post-mortem examination, is the only Iraqi to die in British custody, a tragedy that continues to haunt the Army.
At least two witness statements taken in Damascus just last week from Iraqis detained at the same time, and obtained by The Independent on Sunday, throw fresh light on his treatment. Read more ►
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Published: 17 June 2007
ذكرى دموية لحرب بلير
تحت هذا العنوان كشفت صحيفة ذي إندبندنت أون صنداي عن معلومات وصور وصفتها بالصادمة حول مقتل عامل الاستقبال بفندق البصرة بهاء موسى في المعتقلات البريطانية، وقالت إن هذه المعلومات تأتي في وقت يحاول فيه عشرات العراقيين تقديم دعاوى ضد وزارة الدفاع البريطانية إزاء سوء المعاملة في معتقلاتهم.
وقالت الصحيفة إن داود موسى المالكي والد بهاء سيتقدم بالقضية في الأسابيع القليلة المقبلة بعد حكم صدر عن مجلس اللوردات يقضي بتطبيق حقوق الإنسان على المدنيين الذين يتم اعتقالهم من قبل القوات البريطانية في العراق، مشيرة إلى أن ثماني قضايا أخرى قائمة فضلا عن 30 قضية في طريقها إلى المحكمة بحسب بعض المحامين.
