Fresh allegations Iraqi prisoner abuse emerge/British Troops

[cal04]

Former Iraqi prisoners claim in a BBC program to be broadcast today that British troops abused and humiliated them in the aftermath of the US-led invasion in March 2003. The fresh allegations fuelled suspicion that the Army was following a policy of "systematic abuse and torture" when dealing with Iraqi detainees. Two brothers, Marhab and As'ad Zaaj-al-Saghir, alleged they were beaten with sticks and denied water and sleep after being arrested in Basra, southern Iraq, following the invasion. One said a soldier urinated on his head. BBC's Newsnight said the accounts were similar to numerous other claims made in a confidential report by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"They lowered me down... while I was tied up, threw me on the floor and hit me with a stick," Marhab Zaaj-al-Saghir told the program. "You couldn't draw breath afterwards and I lost consciousness."I thought they would throw water over us but he got his penis out and urinated on my head," said Zaaj-al-Saghir, alleging that he and his brother were held in an internment camp. "If I'd had a weapon I'd have killed myself." The brothers have not made any official complaint and their accounts are confused. The only corroboration of what they say are forms issued a month later by the US Army, showing they were eventually released from a camp in Umm Qasr, southern Iraq, without charge.

Human rights lawyer Phil Shiner, who is acting for dozens of Iraqis who have made claims against the British Army, condemned the alleged abuses. "I think there is fairly clear evidence that there is a policy within the British Army in Iraq of systematic abuse and torture," he said. The Ministry of Defence told the BBC it had investigated 177 complaints against British troops. Most involved shootings when the Army said it returned fire after being attacked.

The Ministry highlighted its "robust system for investigating incidents involving the death, injury or alleged ill-treatment of civilians on operations." A spokeswoman also said allegations could not be investigated unless they were reported. She said anyone with evidence should come forward so it could be looked into. Seven soldiers were last month charged over the death of an Iraqi hotel receptionist who died in British custody in Basra six months after the invasion.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1438431.htm

[Judi Lynn]

1. New claims of Iraq prisoner abuse

Last Updated: Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 02:00 GMT 03:00 UK

New claims of Iraq prisoner abuse

The allegations relate to British forces in Basra
Fresh allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by UK soldiers have been uncovered by BBC Two's Newsnight.
Two brothers claim they were beaten and denied water and sleep after they were arrested in Basra and taken to a camp, weeks after military action began.

Marhab and As'ad Zaaj-al-Saghir have not made an official complaint, but have asked to be compensated for the car and cash they say UK troops seized.
(snip)

Marhab Zaaj-al-Saghir told the programme: "They lowered me down... while I was tied up, threw me on the floor and hit me with a stick.
(snip)

"You couldn't draw breath afterwards and I lost consciousness."

He said he had then been urinated on.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4154700.stm

[Judi Lynn]

2. Torture complaint challenges Iraq constitution

Torture complaint challenges Iraq constitution
15 Aug 2005 11:10:19 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Iraq's draft constitution will enshrine democracy, its framers and their U.S. sponsors say; but allegations on Monday of torture in prisons raised troubling questions over human rights in the new Iraq.

In a video released by a senior local government official, 20 men who said they were held as suspected insurgents by Interior Ministry forces displayed welts and bruises and alleged they were beaten and given electric shocks among other tortures.

Just as a 1990 charter imposed by ousted President Saddam Hussein promised equal rights and the rule of law, but did not stop genocidal killing and torture, so the value of the constitution that may be presented on Monday will lie in how far fine words translate into reality in an Iraq riven with sectarian and ethnic strife.

It was not possible to verify the allegations endorsed by Awf Rahoumi, a deputy governor of Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, where sectarian tensions between once dominant Sunni Arabs and majority Shi'ite Muslims have been running high.
(snip/...)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO537406.htm

[opihimoimoi]

3. OH OH, Holy Bat shit....if those Brits ever get caught as POWs

Dreadful consequences for sure.....

[evermind]

4. See also

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1703980