British troops face new abuse claims

[RPankn]

By Astrid Zweynert


LONDON (Reuters) - The Ministry of Defence is investigating fresh charges of abuse of prisoners in Iraq after the Daily Mirror published the testimony of a British soldier who said he had witnessed savage beatings.

Friday's newspaper said the man had given military police full details of the attacks, including names and ranks of those involved.

The soldier, attached to a regiment already under investigation, said the violence was led by three ringleaders.

"I witnessed four beatings when people were punched and kicked," he told the Mirror. "They'd be on their knees, and when they dropped their hands they'd be kicked until they raised them again."

The Ministry of Defence said an inquiry was under way.

If proven, the allegations would make life even more difficult for British troops in the tinderbox of Iraq as the government considers deploying more soldiers there.

"This is extremely serious for the reputation of the Army," Conservative defence spokesman Nicholas Soames told BBC Radio. "If there are some bad hats, and it sounds as though there may have been, they must be dealt with."

On one occasion, the soldier said, a corporal went up to a prisoner who had a sandbag over his face and poked his fingers into the man's eyeballs until he was screaming in pain.

"We can confirm that an individual who's come forward to the Daily Mirror with allegations has spoken to Royal Military Police," a defence ministry spokesman said.

He said several investigations into charges of abuse were already under way and it was not clear whether the new allegations referred to incidents that were already being probed.

The Mirror, which opposed the war in Iraq, published pictures last week apparently showing British soldiers urinating on a hooded prisoner and beating him with a rifle butt.

The pictures appeared soon after images emerged in the United States of U.S. soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail humiliating naked prisoners, which have inflamed the Arab world.

President George W. Bush has been forced to publicly apologise for his troops' actions and clamour is growing for the head of U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who goes before Congress on Friday in a bid to win the confidence of lawmakers.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Friday that Britain has made no decision yet to send more troops to Iraq but military sources expect an announcement to be made soon -- as gaps left by departing Spanish soldiers urgently need to be filled.

Soldiers may be dispatched to the flashpoint towns of Najaf and Kerbala, potentially far more dangerous than the city of Basra, and its surrounds, that they now patrol.

Hoon told the Guardian that troops should not go to the two holy cities until local Shi'ite leaders had been given more time to reach a political solution to end escalating violence.

But he did not deny they may end up there at some point.

The Mirror's rivals have suggested the pictures it published of British troops might be fake, unlike the U.S. photographs. But the government says it is taking them seriously.

"The abuse of prisoners and torture of prisoners, the degrading treatment of people in the custody of the coalition forces is completely and totally unacceptable and inexcusable," Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters on Thursday.


Link: uk.news.yahoo.com/040507/325/eszwg.html


TA soldier makes claims of beatings
By Nigel Morris
07 May 2004


A member of the Territorial Army has made a series of allegations to military police that Iraqi prisoners were beaten and abused by British soldiers.

The TA soldier claims in today's Daily Mirror, that he saw Iraqi prisoners of war being beaten on four separate occasions. The new accusations concern the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, which is already being investigated over photographs of alleged torture published in the newspaper.

The TA man, referred to as "Soldier C", says PoWs were punched and kicked. In one assault, he says, a corporal placed a sandbag over a suspect's face and poked his fingers into the man's eyes until he screamed with pain.

Piers Morgan, the editor of the Daily Mirror, said Soldier C, had handed a dossier of evidence detailing "appalling beatings" to the Royal Military Police.

"He will be naming the names of the people responsible, including corporals and sergeants and some senior officers who he says were culpable in tacitly allowing this to happen," Mr Morgan said.

He told the BBC: "He believes there are already ongoing investigations into a number of people involved in this ring of bad apples and there will be automatic courts martial following."

The Ministry of Defence confirmed last night that military police had interviewed the TA member over his allegations. It also disclosed that a regular soldier had been interviewed separately in Manchester over claims that prisoners were abused. An MoD spokesman said: "We take all allegations about ill-treatment of Iraqi civilians very seriously."

Westminster was awash with rumours last night that arrests of British soldiers who had recently returned from Iraq were imminent. The claims were strongly denied by the Ministry of Defence.


Link: news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=518959

[RPankn]

Here's the Mirror story:

THIRD BRIT SOLDIER TELLS US: I SAW PoW BEATINGS

May 7 2004


By Tom Newton Dunn, Defence Correspondent, Stephen Moyes And Aidan Mcgurran

THREE rogue soldiers got away with spearheading a sickening campaign of abuse against Iraqi PoWs, a British trooper claimed yesterday.

Soldier C told the Mirror that suspects had "10 kids of crap" beaten out of them and said officers only stepped in when the appalling beatings got too heavy.

Believing it his duty to expose the shameful acts he has witnessed and see the guilty punished, he told the Mirror: "It was a few bad NCOs who encouraged it - and the others just followed their lead.

"In battle situations when you capture someone, you're supposed to keep up the shock of capture so you can extract more things out of prisoners, like important information.

"That's a standard textbook thing we're all taught - to deprive them of certain senses, like sight, and make loud noises around them.

"That's fine. But it went beyond that, way beyond the line.

"They'd come in and they're sacked over the head with a sandbag, zip-tied and their hands put behind their head. It's normal.

"But from there the people looking after them would just basically beat 10 times of crap out of them.

"It would be mainly the rib area. But then when they took their sand bags off, I've seen the state of their faces. Their noses were bent, they looked like haggises to me."

Soldier C's shocking testimony follows similar claims by two troopers - soldiers A and B - from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Last night officers from the Army's elite Special Investigations Branch were taking a full statement from Soldier C in a military police station after the Mirror put them in touch with him.

Soldier C, a still serving trooper who deployed to Iraq with the QLR, is also prepared to testify before any court martial.

He came forward after seeing pictures in the Mirror six days ago of an Iraqi suspect being beaten and urinated on during eight hours of prolonged abuse.

Speaking for the first time, Soldier C declared: "When I saw the Mirror I said to my family 'I told you'. Stuff started coming out about the credibility of the pictures. But I was thinking, that definitely did happen.

"I probably know the person who took the pictures. It didn't surprise me that urinating happened, although I didn't actually see that. I know those things did happen."

Soldier C said he believed there were only about 100 rogue troopers engaged in violence among all the thousands of British troops in Iraq.

He said: "Most are good. It's just that there are a handful of people in the wrong positions.

"I witnessed four beatings of people punched and kicked. They'd be on their knees, and when they dropped their hands they'd be kicked until they raised them again.

"It was always guards. Where I worked wasn't far away. I'd go outside for a cigarette and you could hear the slapping and the kicking. My concern was that it was above and beyond acceptable levels of violence on a prisoner.

"All right, they're not allowed to talk to each other, you're allowed to shout at them - even 'stress positions' you can do up to a certain point. But two days straight with beatings? That's just sick."

At the Army's request, the Mirror has withheld all names of personnel alleged to have engaged in abuse so as not to prejudice any trial.

Soldier C went on: "One of the worst things I witnessed was Corporal ***** demonstrating what he could do.

"He went up to one of the prisoners who still had a sandbag on his face and was poking his fingers into his eyeballs until the guy was screaming in pain.

"The main thing was holding prisoners' hands up and they'd whack them in the ribs. It would happen on every shift. Whenever guards changed over they'd all do the same. So these guys would get a continual battering.

"Some of the lads who did it probably didn't even want to. But it was the sort of thing that was expected. They did it because you'll do most things to try and fit in in the Army."

Most of the abuse Soldier C witnessed took place, he said, during what the army dubs Tactical Questioning at the QLR's Main Battle group HQ, formerly an old Ba'ath Party headquarters in Basra.

Soldier C said: "It's where the 'shock of capture' took place, as it was called. I started getting curious about what happened down in the cells when I heard that people were getting a right pasting in there.

"And when I go down there you could see. The guys weren't allowed to sleep with no food or water until they'd been TQ'd.

"If they'd been co-operative then they'd had water or a cigarette. But they were in a right state. They were sitting in their own p***.

"They were sitting up in a stress position, on their knees with their hands up. They'd been like that for hours. Every now and again one of the prisoners would get a sandbag on their head, zip-tied, and run around the camp. It was pathetic.

"They were so scared, they couldn't see where they were going. They were trying to fight it as they were dragged around.

"One guy's trousers fell down to his ankles. Everything was in the open and everyone was laughing at him while he was running around."

Some prisoners were also left in the intense heat of the Iraqi summer, and even by hot air exhaust pipes.

The QLR were in Basra during the hottest time of the year, between July and November.

In September the 26-year-old son of an Iraqi police chief died after repeated beatings by QLR troops, the dead man's family claims.

If it had not been for that tragedy, said Soldier C, the beatings may have remained a secret.

He said: "I'm not surprised someone died. But if it wasn't for that death in custody, nothing would have been done about it. Army rules dictate that the Special Investigations Branch has to be called then."

Soldier C said some officers knew full well what was happening to prisoners, and even tacitly encouraged it because they thought it helped to gain useful information.

He claimed at least one officer did not tell the full truth to SIB detectives probing the death of an Iraqi in custody, he claims.

He said: "I knew officers were aware of what was going on because of what I heard.

"For example, a guy on the ground said 'Shall we start the shock of capture?', and the mid-ranking officer said 'Yes, but not as bad as before. Don't go as far as before'.

[continued in next post]

[RPankn]

"When SIB got involved, officer ****** denied knowing what was going on. He said we should punish these guys. But he did know. When they came in for TQ-ing, are you telling me he didn't see the state of them? You can't fail but notice. These guys are black and blue.

"The main point I want to get across is that the officers that deny that these things went on, did know. Apart from the Commanding Officer, Colonel Mendoza. I thought he was a pretty good guy.

"I genuinely think he didn't know what went on in these cells. He's a busy man.

"He delegates things to people and maybe he just presumes, or trusts the people under him to do their jobs properly."

The families of the beaten and abused prisoners were often told little about what had happened to their loved ones, Soldier C said. Instead, they were directed to a central prison camp for all Iraqi detainees in the southern port of Umm Qasr.

Soldier C said: "The families would come up to the main gate and we'd hear that they were asking what had happened.

"We'd say 'Can't tell you anything' and send them on their way. But we'd have them. Even when one of the guys died, his family came up. We couldn't tell them that he was dead or been moved to Umm Qasr."

The barbarity was not always restricted to humans, Soldier C claimed.

He said: "There was one NCO who was a totally nasty piece of work.

"The guys in this Land Rover were saying 'Go on, go on', and he just started with a pump-action gun. It was like something out of a Western.

"There were loads of these stray dogs and he was blasting away at them, left and right. It was at about 11 or 12 at night in these narrow Iraqi streets. They told me he'd been doing it loads. " Soldier C feels guilty about not coming forward with his information to the military authorities earlier.

But he said he feared for his own career and safety if he did.

He explained: "I think if it had got out that I'd complained that someone was treating a prisoner in a way they shouldn't have been, they'd have dealt with me pretty quickly - especially in the QLR. You're worried because you see rules are being flouted. Anything could happen to you.

"At that time there were a lot of incidents going on. It was better to keep shut."

Soldier C added: "The Iraqis in Basra knew we did this sort of thing. So talking about it and punishing those who did it is very important to keep their trust, I'd say. We have to show to Iraq that we are better than Saddam's mob who we replaced. Otherwise, what's the point in being there?"

Soldier C has not asked for any payment for his information, nor has any payment been offered.

A senior army source said last night: "We are very pleased this soldier has come forward, because he could be of considerable help to us. We are also grateful to the Daily Mirror for steering him in our direction. We're determined to stamp out any behaviour like this where and when it happens.

"It is never acceptable, and those responsible are a disgrace to their uniform."

Our shocking images of British troops abusing Iraqi PoWs published on Saturday caused a storm around the world. The Ministry of Defence ordered an immediate investigation into the images.

Armed Forces minister Adam Ingram made a statement to the Commons on the scandal, telling MPs the Government would get to the bottom of the allegations.

It has been suggested that the pictures may not be genuine. But Mr Ingram said there was no evidence to suggest that they were faked in any way.

Tony Blair has said that claims that UK troops tortured an Iraqi were "extremely serious" and must be urgently investigated.

He said earlier this week: "It is wholly unacceptable if there have been abuses of human rights, or torture or degradation of prisoners." Tory leader Michael Howard has also urged that strong action be taken.

The Daily Mirror has agreed to co-operated with the Royal Military Police investigation - but will not reveal its sources.

The MoD said last night: "As the Minister for the Armed Forces made clear in the House of Commons earlier this week, we take allegations about the treatment of Iraqi civilians very seriously and urge any individuals with relevant information to come forward and report it to the authorities. It will be thoroughly investigated.

"The investigation instituted following the publication of photographs by the Daily Mirror continues. We continue to encourage anyone with information that would assist that inquiry to come forward as soon as possible."

Twelve Iraqi families who claim their relatives were killed by the British Army have launched a fight for an inquiry and compensation. Statements from the families have been filed at the High Court.


Link: www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14217558%26method=full%26siteid=50143%26headline=third%2dbrit%2dsoldier%2dtells%2dus%2d%2di%2dsaw%2dpow%2dbeatings-name_page.html

[Moses]

Blair is Bush's twin. The Red Cross had reported abuses to Blair in January:

Pressure mounts on UK's Blair over Iraq abuse

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) Pressure mounted on Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday over allegations British troops abused Iraqi prisoners, with politicians demanding to know what action the government took over reports of mistreatment.

Hounded by members of all parties, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon agreed to make a statement to parliament tomorrow.

He will face a grilling after the government said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had raised concerns with it over the treatment of British-held prisoners in February, months before the abuse scandal erupted in the press.

The ICRC said today that visits to detention centres in Iraq last year revealed infringements of international treaties on prisoners of war that it said were ''tantamount to torture''.

The alleged abuse was mainly inflicted by U.S. troops, the ICRC said, but it had also alerted London to concerns about the treatment of prisoners in British-run jails.

Former foreign secretary Robin Cook of Blair's Labour Party urged the government on Sunday to publish the ICRC report.

''Until they do, really we cannot see what independent people are saying about the problem and how severe it is,'' Cook told BBC Television.

The Ministry of Defence said the ICRC report was confidential and that it had acted on the recommendations.

The behaviour of British troops in Iraq hit the headlines last week after The Mirror newspaper published photographs apparently showing soldiers urinating on a prisoner and beating him.
Their authenticity has been questioned but The Mirror on Friday published evidence from a soldier who said he had witnessed savage beatings of Iraqis. Other allegations of abuse have also emerged in the media.

[Moses]

Over the weekend, the Mirror and other newspapers have published fresh accounts of alleged abuses. The Sunday Times reported that soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers are under investigation for alleged sexual assaults and abuse of prisoners.

The Independent on Sunday cited what it said were eight new cases in which soldiers allegedly shot dead Iraqi civilians in cold blood. The Ministry of Defense has confirmed that military police have completed several investigations into abuse allegations and have forwarded their recommendations to prosecutors.

Britain currently has 7,500 troops in southern Iraq and is considering sending at least 1,000 more to fill the gap caused by the withdrawal of Spanish forces after the election of a new anti-war government in Spain.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12424-2004May9.html