Alice Fordham in Basra
Times Online – 3 May 2010
The cash-strapped Ministry of Defence faces the prospect of further compensation payouts as hundreds of Iraqis held in British custody file complaints of abuse, described to The Times by former detainees.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already paid millions of pounds to claimants who alleged physical and sexual abuse in detention in southeast Iraq, where British forces were based between 2003 and 2009.
The family of Baha Musa, an Iraqi who died in British custody in 2003, shared a £2.83 million MoD settlement with nine others. An inquiry into his death saw evidence suggesting that the illegal treatment of prisoners, such as hooding and sleep deprivation, was widespread.
Substantial out-of-court settlements have also been reached with nine men who made allegations of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of British soldiers in 2003 at a base known as Camp Breadbasket.
The MoD admitted in 2008 that Iraqis were unlawfully assaulted at the base in Basra.
Leigh Day solicitors, who represented the nine men, said that a further 14 have since come forward. The law firm also represents about 100 other Iraqi citizens in claims against the MoD for alleged maltreatment by British forces, mainly relating to arrest and detention. “Fresh allegations continue to come forward, so the number of cases will undoubtedly rise,” a spokesman for the firm said.
Another British law firm, Public Interest Lawyers, represents 65 clients with similar claims and is expecting “many, many more”.
In Basra, Iraqis who had been detained at Camp Breadbasket said that the abuses became so notorious that former detainees were assumed to have been sexually abused by men and were ostracised after their release.
A 35-year-old Iraqi man, who received a financial settlement from the MoD after being held at Camp Breadbasket for one day in 2003, told The Times that he was stripped to his underwear, beaten and forced to sit outside with his back against a wall in intense heat for five hours without water.
He said: “The main problem is that my reputation is ruined. The people in our area, when they hear I have been arrested by the British Army, assumed I had been abused by British soldiers. People associate the British Army with sexual abuse.”
He said that when he reported his experience to the British authorities he was asked to look at an album of photographs of other detainees. “I was astonished,” he said. “I saw photographs of my friends being abused by the forces, totally naked, hanging upside down, being sexually abused.”
The MoD declined to comment on his case because it had been settled out of court.
Another former Camp Breadbasket detainee, 25, who has a claim being investigated by the MoD, broke down in tears when he said that he found two male British soldiers kissing in a storeroom. He alleged that the soldiers beat him and raped him repeatedly at knifepoint. He showed The Times his arms covered in scars.
Afterwards, he said, “my life began to be like hell and disaster”. He left Basra because of the scandal. He married in 2005 and had two daughters, but he said that the shame of the attack contributed to his separation from his wife.
He said: “I hope to sue [those responsible] in front of all the Iraqi people. The important thing to me is to see them convicted for crimes.”
Other former detainees in Basra alleged similar experiences in Camp Breadbasket. One man described being held in a nearby detention facility at Shaibah, alleging that he had been hooded, beaten, deprived of water and had money stolen.
In March the MoD announced the creation of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team to investigate claims of abuse by Iraqis against British service personnel because there were too many claims to deal with individually.
An MoD spokesman said that the investigation was likely to take two years and that it would address cases brought by Public Interest Lawyers. Leigh Day confirmed that the investigation team would also address claims brought by them.
The nature of the investigation team and whether it will travel to Iraq to hear statements has yet to be decided, but it has been confirmed that it will report to the Royal Military Police.
Between 2003 and 2009, 651 Iraqi detainees were held in the British Shaibah prison. Dozens have alleged abuse. In the months after the invasion thousands of Iraqis were detained, often for short periods.
Separately yesterday at least one person was killed and 100 wounded when two bombs exploded minutes apart near buses carrying Christian university students in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. A security official said that the dead victim was a shop owner and the injured included students.
“Today was terrible and I will not forget it for the rest of my life,” said Wisam Jarji, a student who was wounded in the blast. “After the explosion the situation in the bus was chaotic and I could see bloodstains and hear screams all over the place.”
Sunni Muslim insurgents have frequently targeted Iraq’s Christian minority, considering them to be supporters of the Shia-led Government.
Loading ...
