£3m MoD Damages Payout for Tortured Iraqis: Solicitors
According to solicitors representing ten Iraqis, the MoD has said it will award damages totalling nearly £3 million to the men who, it is claimed, British troops deployed in Basra tortured five years ago.
The total compensation figure of £2.83 million – agreed after two days of talks - will be divided up between these ten individuals – nine of them, actual victims, and the tenth, the father of another.
Human Rights Infringed
Earlier this year, the ministry conceded that the human rights of the Iraqis in question had been infringed.
No information has emerged on the precise amounts that each man will be getting, but their solicitors have been described as happy to have attained settlement in a friendly way.
No comment on the Iraqis’ compensation has yet been provided by the MoD.
Baha Mousa Case
One of those involved in the torture was Baha Mousa who, in September 2003, was beaten until he died. Mousa – together with the other nine men – was captured at a hotel in connection with the discovery of equipment that, it was alleged, would be used to construct bombs.
He was held on the basis that he was considered to be a militant.
Mousa’s Injuries
After his death, Mousa’s body was examined, this revealing a minimum of 93 bodily injuries, and also that asphyxiation had taken place.
Two months ago, Des Browne announced that a public inquiry into how he died would be held.
British Soldiers Court-Martialed
Seven British military personnel serving with the (former) Queen’s Lancashire Regiment went through a court martial of unprecedented expense in connection with Mousa’s death.
While six of these were acquitted, the seventh – Corporal Donald Payne - confessed to having treated Iraqis in an inhumane way.
Payne was discharged from British Army service and incarcerated for twelve months.
Source – Armed Forces International’s Political Correspondent
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