From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baha Mousa was an Iraqi civilian who was killed by the British army whilst in their custody in Basra in September 2003.[1]
Death
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 [2]. 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[3].
Investigation
Currently, seven members of the Duke of Lancaster's
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 pled 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 [4]. He was
subsequently jailed for one year and expelled from the army. Six
other soldiers were cleared of any wrongdoing[5]. 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." [6]
Breach of
Human Rights
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.[7] 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.[8]
Court rulings based on this
case
- Col Jorge Mendonca - cleared of negligently performing a
duty
- Sgt Kelvin Stacey - cleared of common assault
- L/Cpl Wayne Crowcroft - cleared of inhumane treatment
- Pte Darren Fallon - cleared of inhumane treatment
- Cpl Donald Payne - admitted inhumane treatment, cleared of
manslaughter and perverting the course of justice
- Warrant Officer Mark Davies - charged with negligently
performing a duty
- Maj Michael Peebles - charged with negligently performing a
duty[9]
BBC Timeline of the
case
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