Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti and Public Interest Lawyers solicitor Phil Shiner yesterday welcomed an announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence of an independent inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 into the circumstances surrounding the death of Baha Mousa.
The inquiry will also examine the torture and ill treatment of his nine hotel colleagues and how it came about that five techniques banned in 1972 were reintroduced in Iraq.
Lawyers for the victims of scores of Iraqis tortured and killed whilst in detention with UK forces when the UK occupied SE Iraq yesterday released a letter of 18 April 2008 to the Secretary of State for Defence.
In this they list all the incidents and matters that require to be included in this inquiry.
Shiner who is acting in all these cases said of the inquiry.
‘This will need to get to the bottom of how it came about that the 5 techniques banned in 1972 – hooding, stressing, food and water deprivation, sleep deprivation and noise – were reintroduced as apparently Standard Operating Procedure for all Battle Groups.
‘Further it would need to establish what lessons are to be learned not just from the death of Baha Mousa, but the torture of his hotel colleagues, the sexual and religious humiliation in play in that incident and in the Camp Bread Basket case, and the appalling evidence in the case arising from the Danny Boy incident.
‘In this case the most serious allegations that could be made about UK forces’ behaviour in Iraq include that 20 Iraqis were executed at Abu Naji facility in May 2004 another nine survivors tortured, and that bodies were mutilated.
‘It will not be sufficient if the inquiry has a narrow remit and does not look at all the cases and issues.
‘The public, as well as Parliament, must be given the opportunity of fully understanding what went wrong in our detention policy in Iraq and what are the lessons to be learned for the future.’
