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Press Releases
Key British soldiers suspected of war crimes in Iraq were not on trial in
"appalling" Army investigation
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One's Panorama has found that several of the main perpetrators in a war
crime committed by British soldiers on Iraqi civilians were not brought to
justice.
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This is despite an estimated Β£20m court martial investigation by the
British Army which today acquitted two soldiers - Major Michael Peebles and
Warrant Officer Mark Davies - accused of neglect of duty.
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Lawyers for those who were on trial have told the programme that they fear the
court martial failed to get to the truth - a view shared by one of the Iraqi
victims who tells Panorama that one of the key suspects was not in court, and
an Army whistleblower who describes the investigation as "appalling".
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A special programme, Panorama: A Good Kicking (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One, Tuesday 13 March,
10.35pm) investigates the events of September 2003 in Basra, when several
Iraqi civilians were abused while in British custody.
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One of them, Baha
Moussa, died. He had 93 separate injuries on his body.
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A soldier who has asked to have his identify protected tells Panorama: "What I
saw in that cell wasn't interrogation, it wasn't detention, it was torture as
far as I'm concerned. it was brutal, it was barbaric."
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In the programme the officer Lieutenant Craig Rodgers is named as being in
charge of the unit which delivered the most intense abuse against the
detainees.
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Rodgers and several of his unit were mentioned repeatedly in court
as being involved in the beatings.
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Yet neither Lt Rodgers, nor any of his men,
were in the dock at the court martial.
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In fact, since the incident in 2003
Rodgers has been promoted to captain, and is currently in Germany training
British troops for Iraq and Afghanistan.
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One former Army investigator was so concerned he was willing to break ranks and
talk.
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The whistleblower, a former senior officer in the special investigation
branch, told Panorama: "It's a complete failure to carry out a thorough
investigation, and bring those people forward to call, either as key
witnesses, or suspects.
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"There's quite clearly some major evidential gaps in
this case, which a thorough investigation would have yielded. It's yet another
example of an appalling investigation."
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Panorama has interviewed two of the Iraqi detainees tortured by the British.
They are civilian hotel workers who were later released from custody without
charge. They were flown over to the UK to give evidence at the court martial.
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But one of the detainees, Radif Muslim, has told Panorama that one of the key
soldiers present while he was being tortured was not even in court.
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"I was a hundred per cent sure about the identity of one (soldier) because of
a mark on his nose... I would still be able to recognise him in a million years...
I'd identified him, but in the court he was not there."
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The man who jailed the Iraqi detainees, Corporal Donald Payne, was cleared of
manslaughter but admitted abusing the detainees.
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Lawyer William Bache - who represented Corporal Donald Payne at the court
martial - said: "One has a suspicion about the members of the multiple as it is
called who were involved in their arrest and their day to day minute by minute
guarding."
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Asked by Panorama's reporter Paul Kenyon - This is the unit of soldiers who
were actually being overseen by Lt Rodgers - Bache replies: "Yes."
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Bache goes on to say: "I would have liked to see those that I believe were
truly responsible for the more disgraceful assaults on the detainees and I
believe that not a single one was there."
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General Sir Mike Jackson tells the programme: "It disturbs me that it is
probable that this trial will conclude and we will not know how Baha Mousa
died."
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At the start of the six-month court martial there were seven soldiers in the
dock over the death of Baha Moussa, including senior officers, an
interrogator, and some guards.
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The most senior was commanding officer Colonel
Jorge Mendonca, whose charge of neglect of duty was thrown out by the judge.
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Notes to Editors
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Any use of the above should be credited to: Panorama: A
Good Kicking, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One, Tuesday 13 March 2007, 10.35pm. Μύ
MB
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