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Killing of Baha Mousa

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Baha Mousa

Baha Mousa was an Iraqi civilian who died whilst in British custody in Basra during September 2003.

On 14 September 2003 Baha, a 26 year old hotel receptionist, was arrested along with six other men and taken to a British base. Whilst in detention it is claimed that Baha and the other captives were hooded and severely assaulted by a number of British troops. Two days later Baha was found dead [1]. A post-mortem examination found that Baha suffered multiple injuries (at least ninety-three), including fractured ribs and a broken nose, which were 'in part' the cause of his death[2].

Currently, seven members of the Duke of Lancaster regiment are on trial accused of several charges relating to the ill treatment of detainees, including those of war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. On September 19, 2006, Corporal Donald Payne plead guilty to a charge of inhumane treatment to persons making him the first member of the British armed forces to plead guilty to a war crime [3]. He was subsequently jailed for one year and expelled from the army. Six other soldiers were cleared of any wrongdoing[4]. The presiding judge, Mr Justice McKinnon, stated that "none of those soldiers has been charged with any offence, simply because there is no evidence against them as a result of a more or less obvious closing of ranks." [5]

On 27 March 2008, the British Defence Secretary, Des Browne, admitted to "substantial breaches" of the European Convention of Human Rights over the killing of Baha Mousa.[6] In July 2008 the Ministry of Defence agreed to pay £2.83 million in compensation to the family of Baha Mousa and nine other men who were allegedly mistreated by the British Army.[1]

Court rulings based on this case

  1. Col Jorge Mendonca - cleared of negligently performing a duty
  2. Sgt Kelvin Stacey - cleared of common assault
  3. L/Cpl Wayne Crowcroft - cleared of inhumane treatment
  4. Pte Darren Fallon - cleared of inhumane treatment
  5. Cpl Donald Payne - admitted inhumane treatment, cleared of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice
  6. Warrant Officer Mark Davies - charged with negligently performing a duty
  7. Maj Michael Peebles - charged with negligently performing a duty [2]

BBC Timeline of the case

References

  1. ^ Robert Fisk (December 15, 2004). "Who Killed Baha Mousa?". The Independent. Retrieved 2006-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ "British soldier admits war crime". BBC News. 19 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  3. ^ Devika Bhat (September 19 2006). "British soldier is first to admit war crime". Times Online. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  4. ^ "UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse". BBC News. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  5. ^ "A bloody epitaph to Blair's war". Independent on Sunday. 17 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  6. ^ MoD admits human rights breaches over death of tortured Iraqi civilian, Belfast Telegraph, 28 March 2008
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