MB Civic

Subject: The army ‘approved abuse of prisoners’

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2457533,00.html

The Times [of UK]
November 17, 2006

The Army ‘approved abuse of prisoners’

By Michael Evans, Defence Editor

http://timesonline.typepad.com/mick_smith/

Read Mick Smith’s defence blog

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 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.