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Killing of Baha Mousa

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way

Baha Mousa was an Iraqi man who died while in British Army custody in Basra, Iraq, in September 2003. The inquiry into his death found that Mousa's death was caused by "factors including lack of food and water, heat, exhaustion, fear, previous injuries and the hooding and stress positions used by British troops - and a final struggle with his guards". The inquiry heard that Mousa was hooded for almost 24 hours during his 36 hours of custody by the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and that he suffered at least 93 injuries before his death. The report later details that Mousa was subject to several practices banned under both domestic law and the Geneva Conventions. Seven British soldiers were charged in connection with the case. Six were found not guilty. Corporal Donald Payne pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment of a prisoner and was jailed for a year and dismissed from the Army. On 19 September 2006 with his guilty plea to inhumane treatment of Mousa, Payne became the first British soldier to admit to a war crime.[1][2][3][4][5]

A final 1,400-page report said a "large number" of soldiers assaulted Mousa and that many others, including officers, must have known about the abuse. The report called his death an "appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence".[2] The inquiry condemned the Ministry of Defence for "corporate failure" and the regiment for a "lack of moral courage to report abuse".[6]

Discover more about Killing of Baha Mousa related topics

British Army

British Army

The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. As of 2022, the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas, and 28,330 volunteer reserve personnel.

Basra

Basra

Basra is a city in southern Iraq located on the Shatt al-Arab in the Arabian Peninsula. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is handled at the port of Umm Qasr. However, there is ongoing construction of Grand Faw Port on the coast of Basra, which is considered a national project for Iraq and will become one of the largest ports in the world and the largest in the Middle East, in addition, the port will strengthen Iraq’s geopolitical position in the region and the world. Furthermore, Iraq is planning to establish large naval base in the Faw peninsula.

Iraq

Iraq

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Persians and Shabakis with similarly diverse geography and wildlife. The majority of the country's 40 million residents are Muslims – the notable other faiths are Christianity, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Yarsanism and Zoroastrianism. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish; others also recognised in specific regions are Suret (Assyrian), Turkish and Armenian.

Stress position

Stress position

A stress position, also known as a submission position, places the human body in such a way that a great amount of weight is placed on just one or two muscles. For example, a subject may be forced to stand on the balls of their feet, then squat so that their thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates an intense amount of pressure on the legs, leading first to pain and then muscle failure.

Hooding

Hooding

Hooding is the placing of a hood over the entire head of a prisoner. Hooding is widely considered to be a form of torture; one legal scholar considers the hooding of prisoners to be a violation of international law, specifically the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, which demand that persons under custody or physical control of enemy forces be treated humanely. Hooding can be dangerous to a prisoner's health and safety. It is considered to be an act of torture when its primary purpose is sensory deprivation during interrogation; it causes "disorientation, isolation, and dread." According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, hooding is used to prevent a person from seeing, to disorient them, to make them anxious, to preserve their torturer's anonymity, and to prevent the person from breathing freely.

Queen's Lancashire Regiment

Queen's Lancashire Regiment

The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through the amalgamation of the two remaining Lancashire infantry regiments, the Lancashire Regiment and the Loyal Regiment. In July 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with two other Northern infantry regiments to form the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.

Geneva Conventions

Geneva Conventions

The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term Geneva Convention usually denotes the agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–1945), which updated the terms of the two 1929 treaties and added two new conventions. The Geneva Conventions extensively define the basic rights of wartime prisoners, civilians and military personnel, established protections for the wounded and sick, and provided protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone.

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.

Death

On 14 September 2003, Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist, was arrested along with six other men and taken to a British base. While in detention, Mousa and the other captives were hooded, severely beaten and assaulted by a number of British troops. Two days later, Mousa was found dead. A post-mortem examination found that Mousa suffered at least 93 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken nose, which were in part the cause of his death.[7]

Investigation

Seven members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment were tried on charges relating to the ill treatment of detainees, including those of war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. On 19 September 2006, Corporal Donald Payne pleaded 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.[8] He was subsequently jailed for one year and expelled from the army. The BBC reported that the six other soldiers were cleared of any wrongdoing,[9] and the Independent reported that the charges had been dropped, and that the presiding judge, Mr Justice Stuart 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."[10]

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Receptionist

Receptionist

A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title receptionist is attributed to the person who is employed by an organization to receive or greet any visitors, patients, or clients and answer telephone calls. The term front desk is used in many hotels for an administrative department where a receptionist's duties also may include room reservations and assignment, guest registration, cashier work, credit checks, key control, and mail and message service. Such receptionists are often called front desk clerks. Receptionists cover many areas of work to assist the businesses they work for, including setting appointments, filing, record keeping, and other office tasks.

Assault

Assault

An assault is the act of illegally committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. Additionally, Assault is a criminal act in which a person intentionally causes fear of physical harm or offensive contact to another person. Assault can be committed with or without a weapon and can range from physical violence to threats of violence. In many jurisdictions, assault is defined as an attempt to commit battery, which is the intentional application of physical force against another person. In some jurisdictions, assault is also defined as the intentional infliction of fear, apprehension, or terror. Assault may be punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or even death depending on the severity of the offense.

Queen's Lancashire Regiment

Queen's Lancashire Regiment

The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through the amalgamation of the two remaining Lancashire infantry regiments, the Lancashire Regiment and the Loyal Regiment. In July 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with two other Northern infantry regiments to form the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.

War crime

War crime

A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostages, unnecessarily destroying civilian property, deception by perfidy, wartime sexual violence, pillaging, and for any individual that is part of the command structure who orders any attempt to committing mass killings including genocide or ethnic cleansing, the granting of no quarter despite surrender, the conscription of children in the military and flouting the legal distinctions of proportionality and military necessity.

International Criminal Court Act 2001

International Criminal Court Act 2001

The International Criminal Court Act 2001 (c.17) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act incorporates into English law and Northern Ireland law the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Donald Payne (British Army soldier)

Donald Payne (British Army soldier)

Corporal Donald Payne is a war criminal and former soldier of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and later the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment of the British Army who became the first member of the British armed forces to be convicted of a war crime under the provisions of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 when he pleaded guilty on 19 September 2006 to a charge of inhumane treatment. He was jailed for one year and dismissed from the army.

BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, based at Broadcasting House in London, England. It is the world's oldest national broadcaster, and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, employing over 22,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 19,000 are in public-sector broadcasting.

The Independent

The Independent

The Independent is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition.

Court rulings based on this case

  1. Colonel Jorge Mendonça – cleared of negligently performing a duty
  2. Sergeant Kelvin Stacey – cleared of common assault
  3. Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft – cleared of inhumane treatment
  4. Private Darren Fallon – cleared of inhumane treatment
  5. Corporal Donald Payne – admitted inhumane treatment, cleared of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice
  6. Warrant Officer Mark Davies – cleared of negligently performing a duty [11]
  7. Major Michael Peebles – cleared of negligently performing a duty [11]

[12]

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Colonel (United Kingdom)

Colonel (United Kingdom)

Colonel (Col) is a rank of the British Army and Royal Marines, ranking below brigadier, and above lieutenant colonel. British colonels are not usually field commanders; typically they serve as staff officers between field commands at battalion and brigade level. The insignia is two diamond-shaped pips below a crown. The crown has varied in the past with different monarchs; Elizabeth II's reign used St Edward's Crown. The rank is equivalent to captain in the Royal Navy and group captain in the Royal Air Force.

Sergeant

Sergeant

Sergeant is a rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, serjeant, is used in The Rifles and other units that draw their heritage from the British light infantry. Its origin is the Latin serviens, 'one who serves', through the French term sergeant.

Private (rank)

Private (rank)

A private is a soldier, usually with the lowest rank in many armies. Soldiers with the rank of Private may be conscripts or they may be professional (career) soldiers.

Corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by the armed forces of many countries. It is also in use by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase capo corporale. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer.

Major

Major

Major is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many armed forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators, major is one rank above captain in armies and air forces, and one rank below lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the field officer ranks.

Breach of human rights

On 27 March 2008, British Defence Secretary Des Browne admitted to "substantial breaches" of the European Convention of Human Rights over the death of Baha Mousa.[13] 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, following an admission of "substantive breaches" of articles 2 and 3 (right to life and prohibition of torture) of the European Convention on Human Rights by the British Army.[14]

Discover more about Breach of human rights related topics

Secretary of State for Defence

Secretary of State for Defence

The secretary of state for defence is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

Des Browne

Des Browne

Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of State for Scotland from 2007 to 2008. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kilmarnock and Loudoun from 1997 to 2010.

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.

European Convention on Human Rights

European Convention on Human Rights

The European Convention on Human Rights is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.

Public inquiry

A public inquiry, chaired by the retired Lord Justice of Appeal Sir William Gage, reported on 8 September 2011 after three years of investigation.[15] The report concluded British soldiers had subjected detainees to "serious, gratuitous violence".[16] Army training manuals failed to explain that the five interrogation techniques used had been banned by the British since 1972, and were also illegal under the Geneva Convention.

The inquiry again cleared Mendonca of knowledge of the attacks, but found that as commanding officer he should have known of them.[17] Although the Queen's Lancashire Regiment were cleared of an "entrenched culture of violence", the inquiry found the violence used in the Baha Mousa case was not a lone example, and identified 19 soldiers directly involved in the abuses, including those already unsuccessfully tried at previous Courts Martial.[16] Lawyers for families of the victims suggested there was sufficient evidence for fresh prosecutions in the civilian courts.

Other enquiries

Derek Keilloh had treated Baha Mousa when he was a Medical Officer with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. In December 2012 Keilloh was struck off the Medical Register, after the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found him guilty of dishonest conduct in subsequent enquiries into Baha Mousa's death.[18]

Source: "Killing of Baha Mousa", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, October 10th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Baha_Mousa.

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Further Reading

Bloody Sunday (1972)

Human rights in post-invasion Iraq

Queen's Lancashire Regiment

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

Bagram torture and prisoner abuse

Bloody Sunday Inquiry

International Criminal Court Act 2001

The Mark of Cain (2007 film)

Army Foundation College recruit abuse investigation 2014–2018
Further reading

In October 2012 Andrew T. Williams, professor of law at Warwick University and an adviser to the families' lawyers, published A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa, an account of the events and the subsequent inquiry.[19] A Very British Killing won the 2013 Orwell Prize for political writing.

References
  1. ^ Harding, Thomas (2011-09-08). "Baha Mousa inquiry: MoD's guilt for death of Army's Iraqi prisoner". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  2. ^ a b "BBC News - Q&A: Baha Mousa inquiry". BBC. 2011-09-08. Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  3. ^ "Baha Mousa hooding inhumane, says ex-army chief". BBC News. 2010-06-07. Archived from the original on 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  4. ^ "Baha Mousa public inquiry to examine allegations of torture in British custody". The Daily Telegraph. London. 2009-07-13. Archived from the original on 2010-10-23. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  5. ^ Bowcott, Owen; Richard Norton-Taylor (2009-09-12). "Inquiry into Iraqi civilian's death to hear of plot to keep ministers in dark over interrogation methods". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  6. ^ "Testimonials for accused GP". Darlington and Stockton Times. 2012-07-13. Archived from the original on 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  7. ^ "British soldier admits war crime". BBC News. 19 September 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-09-19. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  8. ^ Devika Bhat; Jenny Booth (September 19, 2006). "British soldier is first to admit war crime". Times Online. London. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  9. ^ "UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse". BBC News. 30 April 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-15. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  10. ^ "A bloody epitaph to Blair's war". Independent on Sunday. London. 17 June 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-19. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  11. ^ a b "British Army cleared of systematic abuse by Baha Mousa inquiry - Telegraph". Archived from the original on 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  12. ^ "Timeline: Iraqi abuse trial". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2011-11-23. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  13. ^ MoD admits human rights breaches over death of tortured Iraqi civilian, Belfast Telegraph, 28 March 2008
  14. ^ "Iraqis to get £3m in MoD damages". BBC News. 2008-07-10. Archived from the original on 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  15. ^ Baha Mousa inquiry makes 73 recommendations The Guardian, 8 September 2011
  16. ^ a b Baha Mousa inquiry: MoD's guilt for death of Army's Iraqi prisoner Archived 2016-12-29 at the Wayback Machine The Telegraph, 8 September 2011
  17. ^ British army suspends more soldiers following Baha Mousa inquiry Archived 2012-09-24 at the Wayback Machine The Journal, 9 September 2011
  18. ^ "Baha Mousa death: Army doctor Derek Keilloh struck off". BBC News. 21 December 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  19. ^ "A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa". Jonathan Cape. Archived from the original on 2015-03-15. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
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