‘UK covered up use of torture in Iraq’
A photo published by the British Daily Mirror on the abuse of Iraqi detainees
The British government has tried to cover up the use of prohibited interrogation techniques by British soldiers in Iraq, lawmakers say.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights, consisted of twelve members from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, said in a report on Sunday that British troops in Iraq ” had used ‘conditioning techniques’ to maintain the ’shock of capture’ in advance of tactical questioning”.
Wall standing, hooding, subjection to noise, sleep deprivation and deprivation of food and drink constitute the five banned ‘conditioning techniques’. They can be used by interrogators to extract information and obtain confessions from detainees under physical and psychological coercion.
The methods have been described by human rights groups as torturous, inhumane, and cruel.
The committee argues that former Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram and Lieutenant General Robin Brims had told it earlier that British armed forces would not use the techniques as an aid to interrogation.
“In 2007, evidence came to light which appeared to contradict the clear assurances we had received from Lieutenant General Brims that conditioning techniques such as hooding and the use of stress positions were not used by the British army,” the committee said, referring to the death of Baha Mousa, a 26-year-old Iraqi hotel worker while in British custody.
Mousa was beaten to death in 2003 and investigation into his death revealed that British troops had used the prohibited methods.
The report also added that based on the findings of the court Mousa has not been the only one to be subjected to the ‘unlawful’ process and that the military has authorized their use.
“The court heard evidence that the use of the conditioning techniques had been authorized by Brigade headquarters and its legal officer…. At the end of the proceedings, Judge Advocate McKinnon spoke of ‘a serious failing in the chain of command all the way up to Brigade and beyond’ .”
DT/DT
July 27th, 2008 | Category: Detainee Abuse, Iraq, UK
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