Britain's Abu Ghraib: Did Britain collude with US in abuse of Iraqis?

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor

www.independent.co.uk

Saturday, 14 November 2009

Claims that British soldiers recreated the torture conditions of Abu Ghraib to commit the sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi civilians are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence.

The fresh allegations raise important questions about collusion between Britain and America over the ill-treatment of Iraqi prisoners during the insurgency. In one case, British soldiers are accused of piling bodies of Iraqi prisoners on top of each other and subjecting them to electric shocks, an echo of the abuse at the notorious US detention centre at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

One claimants says he as raped by two British soldiers, and others say they were stripped naked, abused and photographed. For the first time, British female soldiers are accused of aiding in the sexual and physical abuse of detainees.

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The 33 new cases, which form part of a pre-action protocol letter served on the MoD last week, include allegations of other torture techniques widely employed by the Americans, including mock executions, dog attacks and exposure to pornography.

In one of the most disturbing cases, Nassir Ghulaim, a young Iraqi, says his torture was based on the photographs taken from Abu Ghraib. He says he was playing football with friends in April 2007 when he was approached by British soldiers in Jeeps. Their interpreter told two of the Iraqis the soldiers wanted them to go with them to a British base.

When he arrived at the camp his blindfold was removed and he was surrounded by six to eight soldiers, he says. "The soldiers asked us to pick fights with one another, or fight them. The soldiers were laughing and taking photos. The soldiers then made us squeeze together in a pile, while a soldier stood on top of us and shouted and laughed."

Mr Ghulaim says the soldiers then forced a younger Iraqi male to strip naked and started playing with his penis and taking photographs. When Mr Ghulaim refused to fight, a soldier kicked him hard on his back and he fell on the floor. "A soldier started hitting me with a baton on my knees and used an electric baton on various parts of my body," he adds. After three days of detention, Mr Ghulaim was freed without charge.

Hussain Hashim Khinyab, 35, who has three children, was arrested in April 2006. He claims that he was badly tortured at the British camp at Shaaibah and later sexually abused by female personnel. He alleges that when he was moved from solitary confinement to the camp's detention halls he saw male and female soldiers engaging in sexual intercourse in front of the prisoners. He says this was done to deliberately humiliate the inmates.

In May 2003, a 16-year-old Iraqi was among a group of Iraqis taken to the Shatt-al-Arab British camp to help fill sandbags. When the Iraqi youth, who wishes to remain anonymous, and his friends had filled the available sandbags, a British soldier indicated that he should enter a room, from where he assumed that he was to retrieve more sand bags, he says.

On entering the room, he claims he saw two British male soldiers engaged in oral sex. As soon as the two men saw him enter, they started to beat and kick him, he alleges. When he fell to the floor, one of the men held a blade to his neck while the other soldier stripped him naked. Although he screamed in protest, the two British soldiers, one after the other, raped him.

In the legal letter to the MoD, Phil Shiner, the lawyer representing all the Iraqis, said: "Due to the wider access of information and disclosure in the US, we do know that sexual humiliation was authorised as an aid to interrogation at the highest levels of the US administration. Given the history of the UK's involvement in the development of these techniques alongside the US, it is deeply concerning that there appears to be strong similarities between instances of the use of sexual humiliation."

Mazin Younis, a leading Iraqi human rights activist working in the UK, said a lot of the new cases he had seen included allegations of sexual humiliation techniques which were part of what he said was a wider culture of abuse. He added: "This is very similar to what was happening at Abu Ghraib and was clearly employed to try to break the will of the detainees. Hundreds of soldiers must have witnessed this abuse but must either think this was acceptable behaviour or were told by their superiors to turn a blind eye."

Mr Shiner says that the new cases became known after the British withdrawal from Iraq this year. He added: "Many of these Iraqis were frightened to come forward and only now have been able to gather the courage to do so. That is no mean feat given what they have been through."

An MoD spokesperson said: "Over 120,000 British troops have served in Iraq and the vast majority have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behaviour, displaying integrity and selfless commitment. There have been instances when individuals have behaved badly but only a tiny number have been shown to have fallen short of our high standards.

"Allegations of this nature are taken very seriously but must not be taken as fact. Formal investigations must be allowed to take their course without judgements being made prematurely."

In London, the public inquiry continues to hear more evidence into the death of 26-year-old hotel receptionist Baha Mousa, who was beaten to death by British soldiers in 2003. A post-mortem revealed that he had sustained 93 different injuries.

The testimony: 'They made us pile up like at Abu Ghraib'

Nassir Ghulaim, 24, a recently married labourer, recalls what happened after his arrest in April 2007.

"I was playing football with my friends. We always stood by the main street awaiting someone to pick us up for labour work. British Jeeps approached us and stopped. Soldiers got off the Jeeps and headed to us. They had no interpreter with them. They pointed to myself and my friend [Salam] to accompany them in the Jeep. They did not force us.

We did not struggle not to go with them as we thought they are picking us for some paid work. In 2004 they did pick me to do some work in clearing a building. We were not blindfolded or handcuffed.

After a short drive we were transferred to an APC. Now they handcuffed us with plasticuffs and blindfolded us. We had no clue what the reason was for this action.

The APC drove for less than an hour and stopped in a place which we realised later was Camp Akka in Al-Zubayr. We were taken to a hall where soldiers started stripping us of our clothes. We were left in just the shorts. Then we were given some drink which started causing us dizziness and headache. It may have been a drug of some kind.

They took off our blindfolds and I could see that we were surrounded by seven or eight soldiers. There were five of us. They asked us to pick fights with one another, or fight them. They were laughing at us and taking photos with digital cameras. They made us squeeze in pile-up, as in Abu Ghraib prison photos, while a soldier stood on top of us and started shouting and laughing. I felt so humiliated and treated as a toy they messed up with.

They picked further on a younger man who was good-looking. They made him strip naked and started messing with his penis and taking photos. On one occasion I refused to pick a fight, then a soldier kicked me hard on my back, which made me fall on the floor. He started hitting me with a baton on my knees. Then he used an electric baton on different parts of my body."

'A soldier exposed herself in front of me'

Hussain Hashim Khinyab, 35, married with three children, was arrested on April 2006.

Hussain claims that he was tortured at the British camp at Shaaibah, where he says he was also sexually abused by male and female personnel.

In his statement he recalls: "Soldiers used to play porn movies during evenings and at dawn. I also noticed that every time I started praying or reading Koran they would play very loud music to distract me and probably other detainees." Mr Khinyab, a carpenter, adds: "While squatting in the toilets or in the showers, a female soldier used to expose her breast or parts of her body, or mess with another soldier in a sexual way in front of me. Another one gestured that she wanted to have sex with me. I was a practising Muslim and this behaviour was very shameful and humiliating for me. Also, a soldier in the observation tower used to point the laser spot of his gun at my penis while I was squatting in the toilet."

He alleges that when he was moved from solitary confinement to the detention halls he saw male and female soldiers engaging in sexual intercourse in front of the prisoners.

He says this was done to deliberately humiliate the inmates. Later, he claims he was sexually abused by a nurse while he was recovering in hospital.

BBC radio 4 Today program- listen again

Iraqi human rights campaigner Mazin Younis, who has been collating and documenting the stories of alleged victims of abuse, explained the allegations to Today presenter Evan Davis.

He said cases of serious sexual and violent abuse in Iraq were widespread, but that people were only coming forward now because they were too scared of the British forces when they were in the country.

Court hears Iraq torture claims

BBC
Page last updated at 14:56 GMT, Wednesday, 22 April 2009 15:56 UK
Claims that British troops tortured and killed civilian detainees in Iraq are being heard at the High Court.
A group of Iraqis wants the court to order a public inquiry into allegations that soldiers killed up to 20 captives.
Some of them, who were detained at the camp, say they were punched, thrown violently against a wall, hit by guards and denied water during interrogation.
The government says the 20 were killed during a gun battle and that military police have investigated the claims.
Defence Secretary John Hutton is opposing the application for judicial review, which is expected to last 15 days.
The case arose out of events which took place during the British occupation of south-eastern Iraq.
Iraqi civilians were detained following the "battle of Danny Boy", a fire fight between UK soldiers and Iraqi insurgents near the town of Majar-al-Kabir in Maysan Province in May 2004.
Rabinder Singh QC, appearing for the six Iraqis, told the court running battles at a number of locations around Danny Boy - a vehicle checkpoint - were triggered when soldiers were ambushed.
It is the Ministry of Defence (MoD) case that nine Iraqis were taken from the battlefield to Camp Abu Naji, a nearby British base, and all left the base alive, the court heard.
Mr Singh said the MoD had stated that the bodies of 20 dead insurgents were also taken to the camp to see if any could be identified as being among the persons suspected of earlier murdering six British soldiers.
It would be unusual and against normal practice for dead bodies to be taken from a battlefield and it still remained unclear who had given the order, he said.
He claimed evidence existed to support accusations by the group of six Iraqis that other detainees had been taken live to the camp, tortured and killed.
'Tactical questioning'
Mr Singh said the applicants believed teenage civilian Hamid Al-Sweady had been taken alive to Camp Abu Naji after being caught up in the firefight but that his was one of the bodies returned the day after the battle.
His uncle is among the six applicants.
The others - five survivors of the gun battle who were detained in the camp - had been regarded as enemy combatants and were subjected to "tactical questioning", said Mr Singh.
This was a process the British Army used at the time to "continue the shock of capture" and the five have reported various forms of ill-treatment, including hitting and being banged against walls while being taken to and from interrogation.
Mr Singh said: "Even on the [Defence Secretary's] own account, they were using methods of interrogation that at the least constitute arguable breaches of Article 3 (banning inhuman and degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights."
An interrogator had referred to using a rusty metal tent pole, about a foot long, to "bang on the table" during interrogations, the court heard.
'White noise'
Mr Singh told the court: "My clients say they were hit on numerous occasions, including with the tent pole."
This accusation was denied, he said.
Mr Singh said there was also evidence of suspects being subjected to the loud, disorientating sounds of "white noise" and being forced to strip naked in front of about 10 people, including a woman interpreter.
The Royal Military Police inquiry rejected the allegations of murder, torture and mutilation.
However, the Iraqi applicants say medical evidence shows that bodies returned to families had marks of torture and mutilation, including close-range bullet wounds, the removal of eyes as well as stab wounds.
Their lawyers are asking the court to declare there was a series of breaches of the human rights convention, including Articles 2, 3 and 5 which protect the right to life and the right not to be tortured, and also the right to liberty.

محكمة تتهم القوات البريطانية بالعراق بانتهاك حقوق الإنسان

محيط: وجهت محكمة بريطانية عليا الأربعاء تهمة استخدام أساليب استجواب فيها خرق واضح لقوانين حقوق الإنسان للقوات المسلحة البريطانية في تحقيقها مع المدنيين المحتجزين لديها في العراق.
ووفقا لما أوردته وكالة الأنباء الكويتية "كونا" ، طالب ستة مدنيين عراقيين المحكمة بأن تأمر بإجراء تحقيق عام ومستقل في الإدعاءات التي قدمت حول قتل الجنود البريطانيين لـ20 أسيرا اعتقلوا عقب معركة بالأسلحة النارية جرت في جنوب العراق في عام 2004.
وقدم المدعون الستة للمحكمة أدلة طبية يقولون أنها تؤيد إدعاءاتهم بأن الأسرى قد تعرضوا للتعذيب والقتل والتشويه.
وأكد خمسة من الستة الذين طالبوا بفتح التحقيق أنهم قد تعرضوا لمعاملة سيئة من قبل القوات البريطانية التي اعتقلتهم بعد المعركة مشيرين إلى أنهم تعرضوا للكم وهددوا بإستعمال العنف ودفعوا بطريقة عنيفة تجاه الحائط كما تم إيقاظهم بالضرب إذا غلبهم النوم إلى جانب طرق أخرى من سوء المعاملة ، وذكروا أنهم سمعوا أصوات أشخاص آخرين يتعرضون للتعذيب.
ومن جانبه ، أعرب وزير الدفاع البريطاني جون هاتون معارضته لطلب المراجعة القضائية ، فيما قال محامو وزارة الدفاع البريطانية: "إن الـ20 شخصا الذين لقوا مصرعهم قد قتلوا أثناء الإشتباكات وهناك تحقيقا مستقلا قد أجري في الموضوع من قبل الشرطة العسكرية الملكية".
ويستمر النظر في القضية لمدة 15 يوما على أن تصدر المحكمة العليا قرارها بشأن الإدعاءات المقدمة من المدنيين العراقيين

.تاريخ التحديث :- توقيت جرينتش : الأربعاء , 22 - 4 - 2009 الساعة : 4:15 مساءً

Parading of fighters' bodies taunts Mahdi Army

From The Sunday Times
May 11, 2008
Hala Jaber in Baghdad
Warning: graphic footage of fighters' bodies being paraded

A humvee military vehicle idles on a broad avenue as an Iraqi army soldier walks nonchalantly past without so much as a glance at the body slung across the bonnet.
The dead man’s trousers have been pulled down to his ankles, exposing white underwear below a torn T-shirt drenched in blood from wounds to his chest and side.
Behind is a second Humvee with another body sprawled over the front, arms and legs outstretched. On his white shirt, a large bloodstain indicates the wound that may have killed him. A soldier sitting on the roof dangles his legs over the windscreen and seems to prod the corpse’s stomach with his boot.

As the vehicles roll slowly forward, the tooting of car horns rises to a crescendo in apparent celebration of victory in battle and the sound of whooping and gunshots can be heard.
A police officer in a blue uniform drives alongside, smiling as the Humvees are waved forward by a pedestrian in civilian clothes and head towards two large arches that span the road. The bodies are being paraded like prize stags after a hunt.
The film, which appears to have been made with a mobile phone, was passed to The Sunday Times by a senior official close to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi’ite cleric who leads the Mahdi Army militia.
The official said it had come from Basra and showed the bodies of two Mahdi fighters who died after the Iraqi army launched an offensive in the southern port city in March with the aim of liberating it from the grip of warring militias.
There was no way to corroborate the official’s information or to identify the dead men as Mahdi fighters, but the vehicles bear Iraqi army markings and the arches glimpsed in the film resemble a Basra landmark.

The release of the video follows the Iraqi army’s success in taking a Mahdi stronghold in Basra and coincides with intense fighting between the two sides in the Sadr City suburb of Baghdad, where more than 1,000 people have been killed in little more than a month.

Yesterday a truce was announced after Sadr’s officials agreed to let the Iraqi army enter the suburb and confiscate heavy weapons in return for security guarantees. However, Mahdi sources said the parading of corpses would increase distrust of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, and his army, which is largely trained and supported by the United States.
“The Mahdi will not surrender its weapons to such an army,” said one commander. “They say we are outlaws but this video just goes to prove that Maliki’s forces are nothing more than a militia.
They will never take Sadr City unless they wipe out each and every one of us.”
A second video obtained from the same source purports to show prisoners being beaten in a police station in the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad.
An Iraqi lawyer who has advised Maliki’s government said the two videos showed soldiers and police in serious breach of the law. “Desecratinga corpse is prohibited in law, even if he had been the worst criminal on earth,” said Maen Zaki, a former member of a government committee that handled legal issues arising from operations to restore order in Baghdad.
Major-General Mohammed al-Askari, an Iraqi defence ministry spokesman, said: “All videos and films can be manipulated these days. However, we do not tolerate anyone who defiles a body or abuses a person’s human rights. We will exercise the maximum punishment.”

فضيحة جديدة الاحتلال الأمريكي يمثل بجثث العراقيين في البصرة

محيط - وكالات
لندن : تكشفت فضيحة عراقية جديدة تثبت دموية الصراع الطائفي الجاري في البلاد والذي تكرس منذ الاحتلال الامريكي قبل خمس سنوات .
وعرضت صحيفة "ذي صاندي تايمز" الأسبوعية البريطانية في عددها الصادر السبت صورًا مرعبة من شريط فيديو يظهر تمثيلاً بجثث عراقيين موثوقي الأيدي على مقدمة "همفي" أمريكية "عليها العلم العراقي" في البصرة.
وقالت صحيفة "القدس" إن هذه اللقطات تعود حسب مصادر من التيار الصدري إلى معارك حملة "صولة الفرسان" التي قادها رئيس الوزراء نوري المالكي لإنهاء تحكم المليشيات بالمدينة الجنوبية.
بصمات إسرائيلية
وقال مسؤول في التيار- الذي سلم الشريط الذي صور على الارجح بكاميرا هاتف محمول- إن جثث هؤلاء الضحايا تعود إلى مقاتلين له، وتم التمثيل بجثثهم. وتذكر طريقة ربط الجثث بنظيرتها التي استخدمها الجيش الأمريكي إثر اجتياحهم مدينة الفلوجة، أو ما فعله الجنود الإسرائيليين وربطهم للمدنيين الفلسطينيين على مقدم سياراتهم العسكرية واستعمالهم كدروع بشرية.
وكتبت مندوبة الصحيفة هالا جابر صورة قاسية الوقع للملابسات الفيديو وصوره المرعبة، فكتبت: "كانت مركبة همفي عسكرية أمريكية متوقفة في منطقة واسعة عندما مر جندي عراقي بلا اكتراث ومن دون ان يلقي حتى نظرة على الجثة المعلقة على غطاء المركبة الامامي.
وأضافت "كان سروال الرجل الميت قد سحب للاسفل حتى كعبيه، كاشفا عن ملابس داخلية بيضاء تحت قميص قطني ممزق ملطخ بالدم نزف من جروح في صدره وجنبه.
وتابعت "في الخلف كانت تقف مركبة همفي ثانية علقت جثة أخرى على غطاء محركها الامامي، وقد مددت ذراعا القتيل وساقاه، وعلى قميصه الابيض ظهرت بقعة كبيرة من الدم تشير الى ان الجرح قد يكون سبب مقتله، وجلس على سطح المركبة جندي مط ساقيه فوق حاجب الهواء وبدا بأنه ينخز بطن الجثة بجزمته".
احتفال بالنصر
ومضت قائلة : في الوقت الذي تحركت فيه المركبات إلى الأمام ببطء، تعالى نفير ابواق السيارة بشكل تدريجي في احتفال واضح بالنصر في معركة، وسمعت أصوات هتاف وإطلاق نار.
وأضافت "مر ضابط شرطة يرتدي الزي الازرق مبتسما، بينما لوح احد المشاة ويرتدي ملابس مدنية لمركبات همفي وواصل سيره باتجاه قوسين كبيرين يغطيان الطريق، وعرض الجثث كالغنائم من الأيائل بعد الصيد".
تأكيدات عراقية
وقال مسئول في التيار الصدري الذي يتزعمه رجل الدين الشيعي مقتدى الصدر : إن الفيلم جاء من البصرة واظهر جثتي اثتين من مقاتلي "جيش المهدي" قتلا بعد ان شن الجيش العراقي هجوما على المدينة الجنوبية في مارس/ آذار بهدف تحريرها من قبضة المليشيات المتحاربة.
ولم تكن هناك وسيلة للتحقق من معلومات المسئول أو تحديد هوية القتيلين بأنهما من التيار الصدري ولكن المركبات حملت علامات الجيش العراقي، ويشبه القوسان اللذان ظهرا في لمحة بالفيلم احد المعالم الشهيرة للبصرة.
ويأتي نشر الفيلم في اعقاب نجاح الجيش العراقي في الاستيلاء على معقل "جيش المهدي" في البصرة ويتزامن مع القتال المكثف بين الجانبين في مدينة الصدر، إحدى ضواحي بغداد، حيث قتل اكثر من 1000 شخص في أقل من شهر.
هدنة في البصرة
وجرى الإعلان عن هدنة امس بعد موافقة مسئولين على السماح للجيش العراقي بالدخول إلى الضاحية ومصادرة أسلحة ثقيلة في مقابل ضمانات امنية. ولكن مصادر في "جيش المهدي" قالت : ان استعراض الجثث سيزيد من انعدام الثقة بنوري المالكي رئيس الوزراء العراقي وجيشه، الذي تلقى التدريبات والدعم بصورة كبيرة من الولايات المتحدة.
وقال أحد القادة : "إن جيش المهدي لن يسلم أسلحته لمثل ذلك الجيش، وهم يقولون إننا خارجون عن القانون، ولكن هذا الفيلم يظهر ان قوات المالكي ليست أكثر من مليشيا، وهم لن يستولوا على مدينة الصدر إلا قضوا علينا جميعا".
فضيحة أخرى
ويزعم شريط آخر تم الحصول عليه من المصدر ذاته إظهار سجناء يتعرضون للضرب في مركز للشرطة في مدينة كربلاء الشيعية المقدسة جنوب بغداد.
وقال محام عراقي كان قدم المشورة لحكومة المالكي ان الشريطين يظهران جنودا ورجال شرطة في انتهاك خطير للقانون. وقال معين زكي، وهو عضو سابق في لجنة حكومية تولت معالجة قضايا قانونية نبعت من عمليات لاستعادة النظام في بغداد: "ان انتهاك قدسية الجثة محظور قانونا، حتى وان كانت لاسوأ الجناة على وجه الارض".
"نفي"
وقال اللواء محمد العسكري، احد الناطقين باسم وزارة الدفاع العراقية : "جميع شرائط الفيديو والافلام يمكن التلاعب بها هذه الأيام، ورغم ذلك فإننا لا نتسامح مع أي شخص يشوه جثة او ينتهك الحقوق الإنسانية لأحد، ونحن سنطبق العقوبة القصوى" على حد قوله.

فيديو على موقع جريدة التايمز البريطانية يظهر التمثيل بالجثث

فيديو على موقع جريدة التايمز البريطانية يظهر سوء معاملة سجناء في كربلاء

Army faces new torture claims over arrest of Shia leader

The testament of a respected Shia elder, aged 70, suggests brutal treatment of civilians is still continuing, writes Robert Verkaik
Independent on Sunday , 6 April 2008

The British Army faces new allegations of torture and abuse over the arrest and detention of a Shia tribal leader and his family who claim they were hooded and beaten by soldiers based at Basra airport last year.
The allegations could prove highly damaging as they come just days after the Government said that abuses committed by British soldiers had been limited to 2003 and 2004 and involved only a "very small minority" of servicemen.
In the new claims, which are being prepared for legal action in the UK courts, Jabbir Hmoud Kammash, 70, the leader of a sub-division of the Albu-Darraj tribe in southern Iraq, alleges that a group of 20 soldiers raided his home in Al-Gzaizah, Basra, in the early hours of the morning in April last year.
Mr Kammash, a former Iraq national wrestling champion, says that on the day of the raid, his family were celebrating the birth of his grandchild: "There were over 20 soldiers. They broke into the house through the door and came down from the roof. My wife, daughters and their kids were all screaming in horror. I was very scared for their safety."

The Iraqis claim that money and computers were taken during the raid and furniture destroyed. Mr Kammash says he, his two sons and three male house guests were hooded, handcuffed and then driven off to the British military base at Basra airport.
"Two soldiers sat on my back while I was kneeling, which caused me great pain. I felt I was going to suffocate," says Mr Kammash in his statement. "I pushed my back up, which made the two soldiers hit the car's roof. The soldiers started punishing me for it by hitting my head with rifle butts – they only stopped when they noticed blood was gushing out of my head. Then they started beating me heavily in the ribs."
Mr Kammash says his head injury later required six stitches at a British military hospital.

His statement continues: "I was in severe pain and could not walk when they ordered me out of the jeep, so they started kicking and hitting me all over my body till I dropped to the floor.
"They brought a stretcher and took me to the army clinic in the airport, where I stayed for about four hours.
"I woke up to see an oxygen mask on my nose. Someone placed a pencil between my fingers and squeezed strongly, which made me scream, then asked whether I agreed to them stitching up my head – I agreed to that."
The respected Shia elder, who was still hooded, says he was dragged by two soldiers from the hospital for interrogation.

The use of hoods, if proven, would be particularly damning. Their use was outlawed by the British government in 1972, but reintroduced in Iraq without any seeming official sanction. When it emerged that prisoners were being hooded in 2004, troops were told formally that the practice should cease.
Mr Kammash's tribe has enjoyed significant influence in the south since the days of the Ottoman Empire. Abdul-Hadi Al-Darraji, one of the members of this tribe, is the official spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr.

These new claims will increase the pressure on the Government to hold an independent inquiry into the actions of British soldiers in the detention of Iraqi civilians from the beginning of the war right up to the present day.
Despite dozens of allegations of abuse, only a handful of lower ranks have been found guilty of mistreating prisoners. No officer has been found guilty of any wrongdoing.
Mr Kammash added: "The interrogator accused me of using my house for terrorist activities and asked me to confess. I explained that I am an elderly man in a house full of women and children, and the thorough search of the house had revealed no weapons at all.
"They re-hooded me and dragged me back to the open ground, where they made me sit on rough gravel on my knees. Every time I felt sleepy or tired and my back bent forward, a soldier kicked my back with his boots or the rifle butt to keep me awake.

They were absolutely merciless considering my age."
Sleep deprivation is recognised internationally as a form of torture.
During the raid Mr Kammash's son Ammar, 25, claims he was badly beaten in front of his mother because he had tried to reassure her there was nothing to worry about.
"Soldiers started beating me to stop me talking," he said. "They were very selective in choosing the areas where they beat me – I was hit on my ribs, stomach, thighs and shoulders. It seemed to me that their intention was not to cause lasting or apparent damage to my body. They used their boots, fists, rifle butts and helmets."

He claims that during his interrogation a British officer threatened that if he did not confess "they would bring my wife and sisters and rape them in front of me".
He too was treated for his injuries at the army hospital at the airport.
Mr Kammash was released the next day along with a second son, Alaa. Ammar was released four days later.

None of the men has been charged. Three other Iraqis held by the British during the same raid claim they were also inhumanely treated and were released without charge.

The men have all given witness statements to the Iraqi League, a UK-based human rights group that helped uncover evidence leading to the court martial of British troops accused in connection with the killing of Baha Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist who was beaten to death by soldiers in September 2003.
Mazin Younis, spokesperson for the Iraqi League, said: "After three visits to Basra and over 70 cases I have investigated of alleged killings or torture, especially that of Baha Mousa and his colleagues, I truly hoped that the MoD had taken serious steps to prevent hooding and abuse of Iraqi prisoners after this horrible crime. Now I am really shocked to learn that these practices may have been adopted as a policy by the British Army that has continued well into 2007."
He added: "Mr Kammash and his sons have expressed to the Iraqi League their intention to take legal action against the British government for the abuse they have suffered, and to claim damages for the injuries and losses incurred in the raid. We are now talking to British lawyers regarding this case."

Last week Des Browne, the Secretary of State for Defence, admitted that Mr Mousa had been tortured before he died, but said that some of the allegations against British soldiers were exaggerated. In letters sent to the lawyers representing Mr Mousa's family, the Government said it would resist attempts to hold a wider court inquiry into events surrounding his death.
In January the Ministry of Defence published its findings into the allegations of mistreatment of civilians detained by troops in 2003 and 2004.
Brigadier Robert Aitken, the director of army personnel strategy, said soldiers had received only "scant" information on how to treat such civilians and that forces needed to be given "a better understanding between right and wrong".
But he said there was no evidence of endemic abuse.

Martyn Day, senior partner of solicitors firm Leigh Day & Co, which specialises in human rights cases, said he had been asked to investigate the new allegations: "From what I can see, these cases have a very familiar ring to them. It shows we are not just talking about a few rogue soldiers at the beginning of the war. The scale of the abuse clearly goes much further and needs to be fully investigated at an independent public inquiry."

Mr Day said the hooding of prisoners, putting them into the stress position and depriving them of food and water were all methods widely employed by the Army.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "We have no record of this incident or any complaints linked to it. However, the Royal Military Police will investigate any allegation of abuse reported to us. We condemn all acts of abuse and brutality and take any allegations of wrongdoing very seriously."

Jabbir Hmoud Kammash: A tribal leader draws on personal experience to give damaging evidence against the British Army
On 1 April 2007 my house was raided by British troops at around 1am. I live in Al-Gzaizah, Basra, the same district where most Camp Breadbasket victims come from. My house was occupied then by 15 members of our family, most of them women and children. One of my daughters had just had a baby on that day.
There were over 20 soldiers. They broke into the house through the door and came down from the roof. We felt like the whole Army was invading. My wife, daughters and their kids were all screaming in horror.
They searched the house and found no weapons, though they took all my savings: 2m Iraqi dinars (£812), two golden rings and a computer. None of these items were returned to us.

They hooded and handcuffed me. I was taken into an Army jeep and made to sit on my knees. Two soldiers sat on my back, which caused me great pain. I pushed my back up which made the two soldiers hit the roof. The soldiers started punishing me for it by hitting my head with rifle butts. They only stopped when they noticed blood was gushing out of my head. I later had six stitches. Then they started beating me in the ribs.

We were taken to the British base in Basra airport. I was in severe pain and could not walk when they ordered me out of the jeep, so they started kicking and hitting me till I dropped to the floor.

They brought a stretcher and took me to the Army clinic. Someone placed a pencil between my fingers and squeezed strongly which made me scream, then asked whether I agreed to them stitching-up my head.
There were non-Iraqi female doctors as well. A female doctor inspected my injuries and bruises and asked whether they were old.

I was taken away from the hospital by two soldiers who dragged me over rough ground. Then they took me for interrogation. During the interrogation the hood was lifted, and the interrogator asked me to stand up and look into his eyes. I explained that I was could not stand up. I asked him to bring me crutches so that I could stay standing.
He accused me of using my house for terrorist activities. I explained that I am an elderly man in a house full of women and children, and the search revealed no weapons.
They re-hooded me and dragged me back to the open ground, where they made me sit on gravel on my knees. Every time I felt tired and my back bent forward, a soldier kicked my back with his boots or the rifle butt to keep me awake. They were absolutely merciless considering my age.

I was taken a second time to be interrogated, where the officer apologised for my detention and confirmed that I had been detained by mistake. He gave me a $5 note. I told him that I had no need for his $5. He asked me to keep it as a souvenir from the British!

I was released the next day, along with my 25-year-old son, Alaa'. He had bruises all over his face and body. My other son, Ammar, was released four days later.
I stayed in bed for about three months after this incident. The wound in my head is still apparent, while the other bruises have since healed.

During the interrogation they made me hold a piece of paper with a number on it and they photographed me from the front and sides. I felt extremely humiliated. They were treating me like a criminal, while I was a tribe's chief who had a well-known history as Iraq's wrestling champion from 1966-68.

A diary of brutality
8 May 2003
Kareem Ali, 16, drowned after allegedly being forced to swim the Shatt al-Arab canal in Basra by British soldiers. Four troops were cleared of manslaughter.
11 May 2003
Nadhem Abdullah, 18, died after allegedly being assaulted by British soldiers in southern Iraq. Charges against seven soldiers were dismissed by a court martial in Essex.
15 May 2003
Photographs of abuse of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers were taken at Camp Breadbasket, a food distribution camp. They were released to the media two years later, leading to the conviction of four soldiers.
24 May 2003
Sa'eed Shabram drowned after also allegedly being forced to swim the Shatt al-Arab canal. No charges were brought.
15 september 2003
Baha Mousa, 26, was beaten to death and eight other Iraqi civilians were tortured by British soldiers. Only one soldier was convicted and jailed for a year. Defence Secretary Des Browne last week agreed to pay compensation, which could reach £1m.
April 2004
British soldiers were filmed beating youths during a riot at Al-Amarah. No action was taken.
May 2004
British troops allegedly executed 20 Iraqis and mutilated their corpses in the army base at Abu Naji. The MoD denies the allegations; legal action continues.
April 2007
A Shia tribal leader is beaten, hooded and deprived of sleep after being dragged off, along with two sons and three male house guests, he alleges, in a legal claim under preparation.

Basra residents blame UK troops

BBC: Last Updated: Friday, 14 December 2007, 23:55 GMT

More than 85% of the residents of Basra believe British troops have had a negative effect on the Iraqi province since 2003, an opinion poll suggests.
The survey for BBC Newsnight of nearly 1,000 people also suggests that 56% believe their presence has increased the overall level of militia violence.
Two-thirds think security will improve when the British hand back control of the province to Iraqi forces on Sunday.
The 4,500 British troops in Iraq will then focus on training Iraqi forces.
The move to Provincial Iraqi Control will eventually pave the way for UK troop numbers to be reduced to 2,500 from the spring.
Basra is the ninth of Iraq's 18 provinces to resume responsibility for its own security and the fourth to be handed over by British forces after Muthanna, Najaf and Dhi Qar.
Improvement expected
The Public Attitudes in Basra survey carried out for Newsnight by the UK-based polling agency, Opinion Research Business (ORB), interviewed a random sample of 922 adults across the southern city of Basra between 3 and 8 December.

The survey's results suggest that only 2% of Basra residents believe that British troops have had a positive effect on the province since they helped the US overthrow Saddam Hussein in March 2003.
An overwhelming majority of 86% felt British troops had had a negative effect.
More than half felt the troops' presence had actually increased the overall level of militia violence over the past four years, while 14% said they believed the British forces had made no difference at all.
Looking to the future, a total of 83% of those surveyed said they wanted British troops to leave Iraq, including 63% who wanted them to leave the Middle East altogether.
However, nearly a tenth disagreed and said they would like the troops to remain in a camp on the outskirts of Basra, where they could be called upon in a time of crisis.
The majority of those questioned felt that once provincial control was handed over to local Iraqi security forces, the security situation would begin to improve.
Two-thirds felt security would improve in the short term, while 72% said it would improve in the long term. Only 5% said security would deteriorate following the withdrawal.
Correspondents say British troops have had a relatively minor influence on the security situation in Basra since they withdrew to a base at the airport outside the city in September.
'Women targeted'
BBC correspondent Andrew North said that, since the withdrawal, the militia has been orchestrating a campaign of violence against women.
He said most people believed the militia were responsible for the deaths of more than 40 women killed in the past few months.
But in a rare interview, Ali Al Saedi, of the Mehdi Army, denied targeting women.
"If this is true, this violence exists everywhere in America and Britain as well. Nobody can blame any block or movement for any of these crimes," he told BBC News.
Our correspondent also said the British base in Basra was still coming under attack from mortar fire.
Major Mike Shearer, a military spokesman in Basra, said: "It's about managing the security here.
"We never professed to be handing over a white-picketed Basra that resembled something out of the Stepford Wives."
More than 170 British servicemen and women have died while serving in Iraq since 2003.

مفكرة الإسلام: كشف استطلاع جديد للرأي نشر اليوم أن أغلبية سكان البصرة جنوب العراق يعتقدون أن وجود قوات الاحتلال البريطانية فى المدينة منذ عام 2003 كان له تأثير سلبي للغاية ومثل عبئًا كبيرًا على الأهالي.
وصدر الاستطلاع الذى أجراه برنامج "نيوزنايت" الذى يذاع على تليفزيون هيئة الإذاعة البريطانية بالتزامن مع استعداد قوات الاحتلال البريطانية لتسليم المهام الأمنية للقوات الحكومية العراقية غدًا الأحد.
وذكرت نتائج الاستطلاع أن 86% من جملة سكان البصرة يعتقدون أن وجود الجنود البريطانيين كان سلبيًا للغاية، فيما أعرب 2% فقط عن اعتقادهم بأن وجود هذه القوات كان إيجابيًا، واعتبر 8% أنهم يشعرون بحيادية تجاه تلك المسألة.
الاحتلال البريطاني وزيادة عنف الميليشيات:
وبخصوص النشاط الإجرامي للميليشيات الممولة من إيران في البصرة، قال 56% من المشاركين بالاستطلاع: إن وجود الاحتلال البريطاني أدى إلى زيادة عنف الميليشيات، وذكر 14% أنه لم يحدث أي تأثير فيما أكد 3% فقط أن الاحتلال البريطاني قلل من عنف الميليشيات.
مستقبل الوضع الأمني في البصرة:
وبشأن مستقبل الوضع الأمني توقع ثلثا المشاركين بالاستطلاع أي حوالي 66% منهم أن يتحسن الوضع على المدى القصير بعد انتقال السيطرة الأمنية للعراقيين، فيما قال 72%: إن الوضع سيتحسن فقط على المدى الزمنى الطويل فيما خمن 5% فقط أن الأمن سيتدهور بخروج الاحتلال.
يشار إلى أن قوات الاحتلال البريطانية كانت تتولى مهمة الأمن جنوب العراق منذ الحرب التى قادتها الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية عام 2003 لكنها ستقوم بتسليم هذه المهام إلى العراقيين غدًا الأحد.

Basra's new era brings new fears
By Andrew North BBC News, Basra

ارتفاع نسب الوفيات والتشوهات الخلقية والأوبئة بين الأطفال في البصرة

الشرق الأوسط

البصرة: جاسم داخل

كشفت السلطات الصحية في محافظة البصرة، ثاني أكبر المحافظات العراقية، عن ارتفاع نسب الوفيات والتشوهات الخلقية بين الأطفال حديثي الولادة، وعودة انتشار الأمراض الوبائية الناجمة عن تلوث البيئة والنقص الحاد في الأدوية الأساسية الداخلة في العلاج.0
وأشارت تقارير صادر عن دائرة صحة المحافظة اطلعت «الشرق الأوسط» على صورة منها، إلى إن ضعف الإجراءات المتخذة في معالجات مشاكل تلوث البيئة التي ازدادت بشكل خطير خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية والتي حذرت منها منظمات دولية زارت المحافظة، تسببت في عودة عدد من الأوبئة والأمراض التي كادت أن تختفي ومن بينها التدرن الرئوي (السّل) والملاريا، والسعار، والبلهارسيا، إضافة إلى استفحال الأمراض السرطانية والتشوهات الخلقية بين الأطفال حديثي الولادة. ونسبت التقارير ارتفاع معدلات الوفيات إلى تلوث مياه الشرب والتعرض لجرعات عالية من أشعة اليورانيوم المنضّب (الذي يشكل احد مكونات القذائف الاميركية الخارقة للدروع التي استخدمت في الحرب ضد العراق)، وتخلف وانعدام شبكات الصرف الصحي، وغياب الرقابة الصحية على المنتجات الغذائية المستوردة، واستخدام المبيدات الرخيصة ذات السمية العالية في الزراعة وصيد الأسماك والطيور، إضافة إلى التأثيرات الطويلة المدى للحروب التي شهدتها المنطقة. وأكدت التقارير على ان المستشفيات تعاني من نقص حاد في أدوية لا يمكن الاستغناء عنها، مثل «الميثو تركسيت»، الذي يستعمل بكثرة في علاج سرطاني الثدي والعظام، وفي حالات معينة في لوكيميا الدم، و«السايكلوفوسفاميد» المستعمل في سرطانات الرئة والثدي والأورام اللمفاوية. ومما زاد الوضع سوءاً على المرضى عدم توفر أجهزة العلاج بالأشعة.0
وأكد الدكتور جواد العلي الطبيب الاختصاص بالأمراض السرطانية في البصرة «ان زيادة التعرض للإشعاعات الناتجة عن استخدام بعض الأسلحة غير التقليدية في الحروب، حسب تقارير دولية، وغياب أجهزة التشخيص الكفوءة التي تسهم في المعالجات المبكرة للسرطانات إضافة إلى عوامل أخرى أدت بالنتيجة إلى ارتفاع نسبة الإصابة بالأمراض السرطانية والتشوهات الخلقية بين الولادات الجديدة للأطفال». وأضاف: «يؤلمنا أن نرى العديد من الأطفال يعانون من السرطان، وخاصة أننا نعلم أنهم سيموتون لأنهم لن يتلقوا العلاج». و قال «لو أن الأدوية متوفرة، بإمكاننا

إنقاذ 70 في المائة منهم على الأقل».0
وقال الدكتور قصي عبد اللطيف مسؤول وحدة التوعية الصحية في دائرة صحة المحافظة «لقد تحولت المدينة إلى بيئة غير نظيفة، حيث انتشرت قطعان كبيرة من الكلاب السائبة أسهمت بظهور وفيات بداء السعار الذي يعد من الأمراض الخطيرة جدا بعد انتقال فيروس تحمله هذه الكلاب المصابة إلى الإنسان».0
وقال الدكتور حسين عبد الرحيم، مسؤول في دائرة صحة البصرة، إن «نقص العلاجات اللازمة لأمراض السرطان المختلفة، سواء الدوائي أو الإشعاعي، يقلل من فرص نجاة العديد من المرضى، كما أن نقص الأطباء المتخصصين، الذين فر معظمهم إلى الدول المجاورة هربا من مخاطر العنف، أدى إلى تأثيرات خطيرة على الصحة العامة لسكان المحافظة، وتأتي الأمراض السرطانية في مقدمة تلك التأثيرات».0
وكشفت دراسة لكلية الطب بجامعة البصرة صدرت اخيرا عن ارتفاع قياسي في عدد حالات السرطان التي أصبحت أحد أكبر العوامل التي تسببت بوفاة المواطنين في محافظات الجنوب. وأوضحت «أن نسبة تزيد على 45 في المائة من حالات الوفاة المسجلة أخيرا، جاءت نتيجة الإصابة بمرض السرطان»، مشيرة إلى أن «بعض المرضى يصابون بمضاعفات خطيرة تزيد من سوء حالتهم الصحية، مما يسرع بوفاة معظمهم، في ظل نقص العلاج المناسب». وبحسب الدراسة، فإن معظم حالات الوفاة التي حدثت نتيجة الأمراض السرطانية، خاصة بين النساء والأطفال، وجد أنها ناتجة عن الإصابة بسرطان الدم «اللوكيميا»، أو الإصابة بسرطان الثدي.

An article published in Arabic on the 20th Nov 2007 in the London based Arabic newspaper AsharqAlAwsat , written by Jassim Dakhil. The article quotes a report from health officials in Basra province south of Iraq alarmed about the heath implications of the polluted environment. The report warns about the return of diseases that had long been extinguished such as TB, Malaria, Bilharzia, Rabies. They also warn about the alarming increase of birth defects and cancers.The health officials blame the increase of deaths on (not in order) 1) terrible state of the health service - lack of medicines, equipment, health professionals fleeing the county..etc. 2) lack of clean water and proper sanitation 3) lack of quality controls on imported food stuff 4) use of strong pesticides in hunting and agriculture 4)DU The report contains a quote from Dr Jawad Al Ali, an Iraqi expert on the effects of Depleted Uranium munitions used by the American and British forces on public health. A report issued by the medical school in Basra university points to 45% increase in cases of cancer in the province. Cancer patients in Basra simply die because of the lack of treatment.The health experts point out that given the medicines and equipment they would have been able to save 70% of the patients

Lawyers take MoD to court over Iraqi mutilation claims

Picture: Doctors in Amara on the 2004 videotape point out an Iraqi victim's injuries.

Calls for independent inquiry into allegations of abuse in aftermath of ferocious gun battle Richard Norton-Taylor
Thursday October 18, 2007
The Guardian
The Ministry of Defence will come under fresh pressure tomorrow to launch an independent inquiry into allegations of abuse of Iraqis by British soldiers

after a fierce gun battle with insurgents three years ago.
Papers to be handed to the high court include witness statements, death certificates and a video taken by relatives of dead Iraqis showing bodies being taken to a hospital in Amara and bodybags being opened.
The statements were taken last month in Damascus from hospital workers who say they saw the bodies of Iraqis handed over by the soldiers for burial. They claim the bodies show evidence of gouged-out eyes, serious injuries to genitals, asphyxiation and hanging.
A detainee released by the soldiers says in a statement he was "continuously punched and kicked" and that he saw blood in the water under his feet coming from nearby toilets. The statement, from Hussein Abbas, was taken by telephone this week from Amara.
The five-minute video shows pictures of bodies being taken to hospital, some in Red Crescent ambulances, and close-ups of some bodies after bodybags had been unzipped. It is understood there has been no independent assessment of the injuries since they were caught on camera.
Earlier this week, lawyers acting for the Iraqis were granted legal aid to help them pursue the case in the British courts where they are hoping to force the military into an independent inquiry.
The MoD has consistently denied any wrongdoing by soldiers.
A number of Iraqis were killed, and others seized by British troops, after one of the fiercest firefights involving British troops on the road from Amara to Basra, near Majar al-Kabir, on May 14 2004.
The MoD said at the time that 14 Iraqis were known to have been killed but that there could have been more.
Witnesses said that between nine and 15 others were rounded up and taken to a British base near Amara, 13 miles to the north. The following day at least nine were transferred to the Shaibah detention centre near Basra.
Allegations of ill-treatment of the Iraqis first surfaced in the media shortly after the incident, which began when British troops were ambushed by insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
The Guardian saw death certificates written by Dr Adel Salid Majid, director of the hospital in Majar al-Kabir, the day after the battle. Seven of the certificates stated that corpses handed to hospital authorities by British troops showed signs of "mutilation" and "torture".
Dr Majid's conclusions were questioned by a senior doctor at the Amara general hospital, 15 miles to the north. Speaking anonymously to the Guardian, he disputed Dr Majid's claims after examining one of the seven corpses in question.
After the media reports, the Royal Military Police (RMP) special investigation branch conducted a year-long internal inquiry into the allegations. The Ministry of Defence said yesterday: "The RMP carried out a thorough investigation and found no evidence of deliberate mutilation of corpses by the British army."
Emphasising the word "deliberate", defence officials said damage to the skull of at least one body occurred when it was being loaded on to a Warrior armoured vehicle. They also pointed out that the kind of multiple weapons systems used in the gun battle could cause very nasty injuries.
The MoD said last night that the military police saw the video as part of their investigation into the allegations.
The RMP's full report, however, has not been published. Government lawyers acting for the MoD have told Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, the firm acting for the Iraqis, that he could see a summary of it "with redactions as appropriate and as necessary to protect operational information" but only for the purpose of any legal proceedings.
Mr Shiner is acting for relatives of a number of Iraqis who died as well as the detainee, Mr Abbas. He was granted legal aid this week to pursue the case which will be presented by two leading human rights QCs, Rabinder Singh and Michael Fordham. They want the high court to order an inquiry into the allegations as required, they say, by the Human Rights Act.
Mr Shiner said the case raised "the most serious allegations" which demanded independent scrutiny.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty, said: "It's been four months since [in a separate incident] we saw photos of Baha Mousa's dead body tortured with 93 injuries while in British custody. In the face of this new evidence, the government still resists calls for an independent inquiry into the post-conflict treatment of civilians in Iraq."
She added: "Some will call us unpatriotic for seeking transparency of this kind but surely the contrary is true? We owe this inquiry as much to the dozens of British soldiers who gave their lives in good faith as to the grieving families."
Human rights lawyers say the courts have maintained that it is the duty of the state to set up a full independent inquiry in cases where a suspicion of deliberate wrongdoing exists.
In a witness statement taken by Public Interest Lawyers in Damascus last month, Assad Mozan, a hospital worker, says he was one of those who went to collect the bodies.
One of the dead was Ali al-Mouzani. "I was amazed as I had seen him yesterday with the British troops and he was not injured at all," he says. He adds that Mouzani had been "severely beaten in the genital area and his reproductive organs were swollen because of the severe bruising". He also refers to corpses with missing eyes.
In another witness statement also taken last month in Damascus, Khuder al-Sweady, who describes himself as a laboratory doctor, claims the genitals of one dead man, Haidar al-Lami, had been mutilated.
He also says he saw the body of his nephew, Hamid, whose cause of death, he says, was "asphyxiation".
"It was clear he had been hanged," he said. "His neck was broken, and there was also blood in his ears, which are also consistent with this diagnosis."
The high court will decide whether the MoD has a case to answer.

مقاضاة وزارة الدفاع البريطانية لانتهاكات جنودها في العراق

بواسطة aliraqnews6 في 2007/10/18 12:29:02

Defence committee: British troops in Iraq face 'nightly suicide missions'

· MPs told by soldiers that role in Basra is over· US influence blamed for government strategy Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday July 25, 2007
The Guardian
British soldiers are going on "nightly suicide missions" in southern Iraq and they are there only at the behest of the US, Labour MPs on the Commons defence committee told the government yesterday.
In evidence that reflects deepening concern among army commanders, the MPs said they were told during a recent visit to British troops in Basra that the UK's military role in Iraq was over.
They painted a dark picture of the security situation in the city, with Iraqi forces inadequately trained, and infiltrated by Shia militia and criminal gangs. The view appeared to be shared yesterday by Bob Ainsworth, the new armed forces minister also just back from a visit to southern Iraq, and by Brigadier Chris Hughes, the Ministry of Defence's senior officer responsible for military commitments.
Kevan Jones, a Labour member of the committee, said British troops were going on "nightly suicide missions", attacked every night as they delivered supplies to the British garrison at the Basra Palace in the centre of the city. "We have a force surrounded like cowboys and Indians in the Basra Palace," he said.
He and other Labour MPs said British troops in Basra told them that the only reason they were staying in southern Iraq was "because of our relations with the US". Mr Jones questioned whether that was "a price worth paying".
Willie Rennie, a Liberal Democrat member of the committee, suggested British troops were there just because of "American domestic sensibilities". Mr Ainsworth replied that Britain was a "sovereign nation" but it was also part of a US-led coalition in Iraq.
Washington wants Britain to maintain a substantial military presence in southern Iraq to try and limit domestic pressure for cuts in the number of American troops in Iraq, as well as to protect convoys taking supplies to US troops and help police the border with Iran.
Mr Ainsworth said that neither the Iraqi police nor the Iraqi army were able to guarantee security in the region. Brig Hughes told the MPs that an Iraqi general had told him some police officers were "totally incompetent". Mr Ainsworth added: "We cannot hand over to a vacuum."
Ninety per cent of attacks in Basra were against British troops, the committee heard. The attackers, said Mr Ainsworth, included "patriotic youth", a "huge criminal element", and militias supplied with weapons by Iran.
He said: "There is clear evidence of malign influence across the border [with Iran] in the Basra area. There is little doubt, when you look at some of the munitions being used to kill our people, they are not being made in garages in downtown Basra. They are coming from outside the area."
However, ministers have said British troops will soon hand over the Basra Palace to the Iraqis. That will leave British troops with one base, beside the airport, attacked recently by rockets fired from the Basra suburbs.
The job of British troops will be to "overwatch" Iraq forces, helping them in the event of a crisis.
To do that, Mr Ainsworth said, the number "couldn't get much below" 5,000, the number they will reduced to in the next few months. He would not be drawn on when Britain would pull out of Iraq, saying only that "we are not planning to stay in the numbers we are in south-east Iraq over the long-term".
One Labour member of the committee privately expressed concern yesterday that British soldiers could get sucked in to urban guerrilla warfare.
Brig Hughes told the committee it was not appropriate to talk about a "victory" in Iraq. He said: "I think it's been quite a long time since anyone has talked about victory in Iraq." Mr Ainsworth told the MPs that it was "essential to talk to the Iranian government" about security in southern Iraq.
· The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Thursday July 26 2007. We wrongly described Willie Rennie as a Labour MP in the article above. He is a Liberal Democrat. This has been corrected.

An Iraqi woman journalist accuses British soldiers of rape

Article from Al Madina Saudi Newspaper dated 21st July 2007

A British court will look into a complaint submitted by an Iraqi woman journalist from Azzubair, west of Basra against a British army unit.

The Iraqi woman, whose name is withheld on her request, has submitted a complaint alleging rape by British servicemen.
The newspaper quotes a British lawyer named Richard McDonnell who together with an Iraqi lawyer and a Jordanian lawyer acting on behalf of the victim who had arrived in the UK a month ago.

The newspaper claims to have seen a copy of their submission to a British court which includes a medical report by a British hospital and the names of the alleged culprits and their military ranks. The investigations into this case will start after the communications with the defence ministry are concluded.

The article claims that an organisation for the Defence of Women prisoners under occupation has distributed a statement, claiming that during the last four years 10 000
Iraqi women have been imprisoned, majority of them were subjected to torture and sexual assaults by the occupiers and Iraqi security forces. These crimes of ill treatment, torture and rape continue today with impunity.
The publicity surrounding the cases of Abeer Qassim Hamza (14 year old) of Mahmoudiya and the multiple rape of Sabreen Janabi (real name Zainab al Shumari), does not reflect the enormity of these widespread violations. These cases are only the tip of the iceberg.

http://www.almadinapress.com/index.aspx?Issueid=2300&pubid=1&CatID=75&sCatID=200&articleid=1008025

صحفية عراقية تقاضي جنودا بريطانيين بتهمة الاغتصاب
المدينة - لندن
تلقت محكمة بريطانية شكوى اغتصاب تقدمت بها صحفية عراقية شابة ضد مفرزة من الجيش البريطاني تعمل في مدينة الزبير غرب البصرة، فيما يتوقع ان يتحول ملف القضية الى فضيحة يدفع بها مناهضو الحرب في المملكة المتحدة الى الواجهة من اجل التعجيل بسحب القوات البريطانية من العراق في فترة لا تتعدى نهاية العام الجاري.
وابلغ المحامي البريطاني ريتشارد ماكدونيل منظمة عراقية انسانية تعنى بشؤون السجينات العراقيات لدى سلطات الاحتلال انه ومحايين عراقي واردني قدموا شكوى الصحفية العراقية التي وصلت الى لندن قبل شهر الى احدى المحاكم البريطانية وان اجراءات التحقيق لم تبدأ بعد بانتظار التخاطب مع وزارة الدفاع البريطانية، وقال في مذكرة مكتوبة اطلعت عليها (المدينة) «لقد قدمنا شهادات طبية صادرة من مستشفى بريطاني بالاضافة الى وقائع اعتقال ووثائق بأسماء الجناة ومواقعهم العسكرية»واضاف «لا يسعنا ان نكشف اسم الضحية في الوقت الحاضر وذلك بطلب منها، وسنعمل على حماية القضية من الدواعي السياسية حتى لا يجد القضاء ذريعة لارجاء النظر بالقضية الى فترة بعيدة

».من جهتها وزعت «رابطة الدفاع عن السجينات العراقيات تحت الاحتلال» بيانا في لندن امس ذكرت فيه انه خلال السنوات الأربعة الماضية، أُدخلت أكثر من عشرة آلاف امرأة عراقية في السجون والمعتقلات الامريكية والحكومية وتعرضت غالبيتهن للاغتصاب من قبل قوات الشرطة المحلية والقوات المحتلة» وقال «ان الكشف مؤخراً عن جريمة اغتصاب كل من عبير الجنابي وصابرين الشمّري لا يشكل أكثر من حالات ضئيلة لجرائم مرتكبة ضد النساء في السجون والمعتقلات العراقية. ورغم الكشف عن هذه الجرائم للرأي العام، بقيت أعداد كثيرة من النساء السجينات يواجهن هذه الجرائم ويُعاملن كلحوم طرية من قبل عناصر الشرطة والأجهزة الأمنية.» واشار بيان الرابطة الى انه لم يحدث منذ حروب القرون الوسطى حصول هذا العدد الضخم من الجرائم بحق النساء وقال « إن ظاهرة اكتظاظ العراق بأعداد ضخمة من السجون والمعتقلات، بلغت أعلى مستوياتها.

Where Is Iraq Heading? Lessons from Basra

Middle East Report N°67 25 June 2007
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Amid the media and military focus on Baghdad, another major Iraqi city – Basra – is being overlooked. Yet Basra’s experience carries important lessons for the capital and nation as a whole. Coalition forces have already implemented a security plan there, Operation Sinbad, which was in many ways similar to Baghdad’s current military surge. What U.S. commanders call “clear, hold and build”, their British counterparts earlier had dubbed “clear, hold and civil reconstruction”. And, as in the capital, the putative goal was to pave the way for a takeover by Iraqi forces. Far from being a model to be replicated, however, Basra is an example of what to avoid. With renewed violence and instability, Basra illustrates the pitfalls of a transitional process that has led to collapse of the state apparatus and failed to build legitimate institutions. Fierce intra-Shiite fighting also disproves the simplistic view of Iraq neatly divided between three homogenous communities.
Lack of attention to Basra is understandable. Iraq’s future is often believed to depend on Baghdad, and most of the spectacular bombings have taken place in the centre of the country, far from the southern city. Observers, by now accustomed to the capital’s dynamics, have had difficulty making sense of Basra’s and so have tended to downplay them. Finally, because U.S. forces have not been directly involved, news coverage has been both limited to Arabic and British media and forced to compete with the gruesome violence that is tearing the centre apart.
But to neglect Basra is a mistake. The nation’s second largest city, it is located in its most oil-rich region. Basra governorate also is the only region enjoying maritime access, making it the country’s de facto economic capital and a significant prize for local political actors. Sandwiched between Iran and the Gulf monarchies, at the intersection of the Arab and Persian worlds, the region is strategically important. Sociologically, Basra’s identity essentially has been forged in opposition not only to the capital but also to other major southern cities such as Najaf and Karbala. For these reasons, it is wrong either to ignore it or lump it together with an imaginary, undifferentiated Shiite south.
On its face, Basra’s security plan ranked as a qualified success. Between September 2006 and March 2007, Operation Sinbad sought to rout out militias and hand security over to newly vetted and stronger Iraqi security forces while kick-starting economic reconstruction. Criminality, political assassinations and sectarian killings, all of which were rampant in 2006, receded somewhat and – certainly as compared to elsewhere in the country – a relative calm prevailed. Yet this reality was both superficial and fleeting. By March–April 2007, renewed political tensions once more threatened to destabilise the city, and relentless attacks against British forces in effect had driven them off the streets into increasingly secluded compounds. Basra’s residents and militiamen view this not as an orderly withdrawal but rather as an ignominious defeat. Today, the city is controlled by militias, seemingly more powerful and unconstrained than before.
What progress has occurred cannot conceal the most glaring failing of all: the inability to establish a legitimate and functioning provincial apparatus capable of redistributing resources, imposing respect for the rule of law and ensuring a peaceful transition at the local level. Basra’s political arena remains in the hands of actors engaged in bloody competition for resources, undermining what is left of governorate institutions and coercively enforcing their rule. The local population has no choice but to seek protection from one of the dominant camps. Periods of stability do not reflect greater governing authority so much as they do a momentary – and fragile – balance of interests or of terror between rival militias. Inevitably, conflicts re-emerge and even apparently minor incidents can set off a cycle of retaliatory violence. A political process designed to pacify competition and ensure the non-violent allocation of goods and power has become a source of intense and often brutal struggle.
Basra is a case study of Iraq’s multiple and multiplying forms of violence. These often have little to do with sectarianism or anti-occupation resistance. Instead, they involve the systematic misuse of official institutions, political assassinations, tribal vendettas, neighbourhood vigilantism and enforcement of social mores, together with the rise of criminal mafias that increasingly intermingle with political actors. Should other causes of strife – sectarian violence and the fight against coalition forces – recede, the concern must still be that Basra's fate will be replicated throughout the country on a larger, more chaotic and more dangerous scale. The lessons are clear. Iraq’s violence is multifaceted, and sectarianism is only one of its sources. It follows that the country’s division along supposedly inherent and homogenous confessional and ethnic lines is not an answer. It follows, too, that rebuilding the state, tackling militias and imposing the rule of law cannot be done without confronting the parties that currently dominate the political process and forging a new and far more inclusive political compact.
Iraq is in the midst of a civil war. But before and beyond that, Iraq has become a failed state – a country whose institutions and, with them, any semblance of national cohesion, have been obliterated. That is what has made the violence – all the violence: sectarian, anti-coalition, political, criminal and otherwise – both possible and, for many, necessary. Resolving the confrontation between Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds is one priority. But rebuilding a functioning and legitimate state is another – no less urgent, no less important and no less daunting.
Damascus/Amman/Brussels, 25 June 2007
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