A British investigation has found an Iraqi citizen held by British forces in 2003 died as a result of “serious gratuitous violence.” The inquiry into the killing of Baha Mousa found the 26-year-old was subjected to torture and suffered 93 individual wounds over the course of his two-day imprisonment at a British military base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. While the investigation implicated specific soldiers, it did not explore the possibility of systematic abuse in the British military. The head of the British army, General Peter Wall, apologized to Mousa’s family.
Gen. Peter Wall: “What happened to Baha Mousa and his fellow detainees in 2003 was, in the words of the inquiry, grave and shameful. The army has apologized unreservedly to Baha Mousa’s family and to the surviving victims of this shocking episode. And I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that apology today, in particular to Colonel Mousa, Baha Mousa’s father and to his family.”
Top