A report documenting the circumstances of the death of an innocent Iraqi civilian found that he was severely mistreated and beaten repeatedly by British Army guards. The incident was condemned by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday, who said it "should not have happened."
Retired judge William Gage conducted a year-long investigation into the circumstances leading up to the 2003 death of 26-year-old Baha Mousa. Gage came to the conclusion that he was punched and kicked by British service members while being tied up.
The report, published by the government-backed Baha Mousa Public Inquiry, said Mousa and nine other “detainees were kept handcuffed, hooded and in stress positions in extreme heat and conditions of some squalor.”
Mousa, a hotel clerk who was detained months after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, suffered 93 different external injuries as well as internal injuries including broken ribs, Gage added. His death was caused by a combination of factors including exhaustion, extreme heat, and physical abuse, the report concluded.
Gage said that it was not possible to determine the identities of all of the soldiers who oversaw Mousa and the other detainees. However, he specifically mentioned one of the guards, Corporal Donald Payne, as assaulting Mousa. The other detainees were also attacked by the troops and mistreated.
“I find that from the outset of their incarceration … detainees were subjected to assaults by those who were guarding them and, in particular, by Payne,” he said. Guards who were passing by were instigated by Payne to strike the detainees.
The corporal came up with a “particularly unpleasant” way of torturing the men, which was known as the “choir,” Gage said. The method entailed Payne and others punching or kicking one of the men in a row, causing them to groan.
Gage said Payne should have instead been supervising the welfare of those who were detained. Payne pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in 2005 and served a year in prison.
Following the release of the report, Prime Minister Cameron urged the military to “take every step possible to make sure this never happens again.”
“If there is further evidence that comes out of this inquiry that requires action to be taken, it should be taken,” he said. “Britain does not cover these things up, we do not sweep them under the carpet. We deal with it.”
