Baha Mousa inquiry: A search for the truth
This article was originally published on July 13th 2009.
By Alex Stevenson
The inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi civilian who died after being arrested by British soldiers in Basra, has begun months of oral evidence hearings today.
Lead counsel to the inquiry Gerard Elias is outlining what evidence needs to be considered across its three 'modules'.
Mr Mousa, a 26-year-old Iraqi hotel receptionist, was found dead two days after being arrested by British soldiers in September 2003 with 93 identifiable injuries on his body. He had died of asphyxiation.
A court martial held three years later resulted in the acquittal of six men. A seventh, Corporal Donald Payne, was jailed for 12 months after admitting inhumanly treating Iraqi civilians in custody.
The inquiry, chaired by Sir William Gage, will first examine the history of 'conditioning' techniques used by British Army personnel.
It will then look at the case of Mr Mousa and the treatment of detainees by British soldiers in Basra.
Finally, training and the chain of command will be examined. Hearings are not expected to conclude until the middle of next year.
Mr Elias told the inquiry: "To be seen to be dealing with such allegations on a comprehensive and fair way may not of itself heal the wounds, but perhaps it does go some way to provide reassurance, both to those who may have been wronged and to those who have nothing to fear from the truth."
He revealed some of the most shocking allegations made by the detainees. One said he had been forced to dance "like Michael Jackson". Another maintains he was urinated on.
Human rights lawyers have fought hard for these evidence sessions to be held. It follows a landmark legal ruling in which law lords judged Iraqi civilians detained by British soldiers were subject to the Human Rights Act 1998.
Aonghus Kelly of Public Interest Lawyers, the firm representing Mr Mousa's family, told politics.co.uk the fundamental purpose of the inquiry was to establish "on a human level how someone who was taken away and had done nothing wrong ended up dead".
He said it had wider significance, however, because of "great frustration" with repeated mistakes by the British Army.
"There's a long list of conflicts going on from post-war Palestine to the present day," Mr Kelly added. "These mistakes continue to resurface – the ugly face of colonial techniques."
Sir William has pledged to balance urgency with thoroughness as the inquiry progresses.
Speaking at its official launch last autumn, he said: "The gravity and importance of the events that this Inquiry is to investigate require little explanation.
"The courts, and the public in general, have long recognised that the death of any person in the custody of the state, other than by natural causes, is always a ground for serious concern.
"Where the death has occurred in the custody of British forces serving abroad and there has at the same time been the infliction of injury to other detainees, in circumstances in which the issue of the use of conditioning techniques is raised, these matters are of clear and obvious public concern and importance."
