The Times [of London]
November 17, 2006
The Army 'approved abuse of prisoners'
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
THE Army's high command was accused last night of officially sanctioning the
hooding and mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners in direct contravention of the
Geneva Convention.
The claims were made by a witness in the court martial of seven soldiers
charged in relation to the abuse and ill-treatment of nine Iraqis in Basra
in 2003.
Major Antony Royce, called as a witness by the judge in the case, told the
court that he was instructed by those higher up the chain of command in
Basra to use "conditioning techniques", including putting prisoners in
stress positions and hooding them, to prepare detainees for tactical
questioning.
He said that the advice had come from a senior army legal adviser. Such
techniques are against both the Geneva Convention and the Army's own rules
of engagement.
Major Royce told the court that, after being put in charge of internment, he
was told by Major Mark Robinson, a brigade intelligence adviser, to
"condition" prisoners. Fearing that this might contravene prisoner-handling
tuition he had received in Britain, Major Royce said that he then checked
with Major Russel Clifton, the brigade's legal adviser, and was again told
that " conditioning" and hooding were acceptable.
"He [Robinson] instructed me to use conditioning as part of the tactical
questioning process," he said. "I then contacted Major Clifton to make sure
that what I had been told was right."
Julian Bevan, QC, for the prosecution, put it to Major Royce that both men
deny having said that conditioning was acceptable. Of Major Robinson, Major
Royce replied: "But he did [say so]." And of Major Clifton he countered:
"Yes, he did."
He added: "They washed their hands of it, and left us to it."
Major Royce, formerly The Queen's Lancashire Regiment's internment review
officer, said that Colonel Jorge Mendonca, the former commanding officer of
the QLR who is one of the soldiers on trial, had himself seen the Iraqi
prisoners being "conditioned" at the regiment's detention centre. "He asked
why it was taking place," Major Royce said. "I explained that I had cleared
it with the chain of command. He was happy that the chain of command and
legal advisers had given us that clearance."
Five members of The QLR and two from the Intelligence Corps are on trial.
One of the prisoners, Baha Musa, died after 36 hours of being hooded,
handcuffed, beaten and deprived of sleep.
The accusations against the British soldiers have alarming parallels with
the abuse by some US troops of Iraqi prisoners, notably at the infamous Abu
Ghraib detention centre in Baghdad.
A senior British army officer is investigating whether there was any
evidence of widespread systemic abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Britain's area
of responsibility in southern Iraq.
Brigadier Robert Aitken, director of army personnel strategy, has been
examining the conduct and reputation of officers and soldiers from May 1,
2003, to the end of that year, when many accusations were levelled. His
report to army chiefs is due to be handed over after the end of the court
martial of the seven soldiers.
The trial, which has been running at Bulford Camp in Wiltshire for eight
weeks, will not be completed until the new year.
Colonel Mendonca has pleaded not guilty to the charge of negligently
performing a duty by failing to ensure that the Iraqi civilian prisoners
under his authority were not ill-treated. Three of his soldiers are charged
with a war crime of inhumane treatment of prisoners.
The trial has already heard that hooding prisoners was banned by a
government directive as far back as 1972 after accusations of abuse of
suspected Irish terrorists in a Northern Ireland detention centre.
Under cross-examination, Major Royce said that it would have been "complete
madness" for him to have told Colonel Mendonca that conditioning of
prisoners was cleared legally if it had not been the case.
Corporal Donald Payne, 35, has pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating the
detainees. He has denied two further charges of the manslaughter of Mr Musa
and perverting the course of justice.
The six other defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial,
before a "jury" panel of senior military officers, continues on Monday.
THE CONVENTION
The Geneva Convention on handling prisoners bans:
* Cruel treatment
* Physical and mental torture
* Humiliating and degrading treatment
* Outrages upon personal dignity
* Reprisals
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