Britain pays millions, issues apology to tortured Iraqis

The British Ministry of Defense has agreed to pay almost $6 million to the family of an Iraqi who died while being detained by UK troops, and to nine other men who were also allegedly mistreated. The family of Baha Mousa and the nine others will share the compensation law firm Leigh Day & Co said on July 10. Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist, died while being detained by soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Queen's Lancashire Regiment in Basra in 2003. The father of two suffered 93 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken nose. During a "mediation session," General Freddie Viggers also apologized to the families for "the appalling behavior of British soldiers" which had left the army "disgusted," the law firm said in a statement. It read: "Settlement has been reached this afternoon for the sum of [$5.97 million] in relation to the Iraqi claims by the family of Baha Mousa, who was murdered by British troops in September 2003 in Basra and in relation to the torture and abuse of nine other Iraqis. "The mediation has taken place yesterday and today, overseen by Lord Woolf, the former Lord Chief Justice. The compensation is for the children of Baha Mousa and the pain and suffering of the men at the hands of the British Army. "During the mediation an apology was given by General Viggers where he said: 'The British Army apologize for the appalling treatment that you suffered at the hands of the British Army. The appalling behavior of British soldiers made us feel disgusted'." Mousa's father, Daoud, a police colonel, said: "My son was killed by the British Army through torture and without even questioning him or presenting him with any information about what he was alleged to have done." He last saw his son alive when he arrived at the hotel on the night of Sept. 13-14, 2003, to pick him up from work. Soldiers had found assault rifles and pistols, which hotel staff said were used for security. He found his son and six other hotel employees lying on the lobby floor with their hands behind their heads. He reassured his son after a British officer, who called himself Lieutenant Mike, told him it was a routine investigation which would be over in a couple of hours. Three days later he was visited by military policemen who told him his son had died in custody. Mousa's post-mortem examination showed he also suffered asphyxiation. Mousa's 22-year-old wife had died of cancer shortly before his detention, meaning his two young sons, Hussein and Hassan, were orphaned. Martyn Day, the senior partner at Leigh Day who represented the Mousa family and the other claimants, said: "Our clients have been through hell over the last few years and this settlement will go some way to enabling our clients to have some semblance of a decent future life." In May this year, the government announced a public inquiry would be held into Mousa's death. Des Browne, the Defense Secretary, said holding an inquiry was "the right thing to do." The head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said the probe–to be headed by a senior judge–needs to establish whether Mousa's death was the result of the "misguided" actions of a few individuals or a wider "systemic" failure. Bob Ainsworth, the armed forces minister, said the inquiry will not look into other claims of mistreatment, although that is what lawyers acting for the Iraqi families had requested. Seven members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, now the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, faced the most expensive court-martial in British history over the case. Six soldiers were acquitted after the six-month hearing in Bulford, Wiltshire. A seventh soldier, Corporal Donald Payne, admitted treating Iraqis inhumanely and was jailed for a year and dismissed from the army.