Government calls for investigation into alleged UK abuses

The Iraqi government called for an immediate investigation by the British Ministry of Defence following the release of video footage on Sunday showing UK soldiers beating Iraqi teenagers. “We urge the British Ministry of Defence to hold an independent investigation,” Iraqi Defence Ministry adviser Muhammad al-Askari said in Baghdad, “and punish the soldiers present in the video for what they’ve done to innocent people”. On Sunday, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said that claims of abuse would be investigated. UK military officials, meanwhile, insisted the incident represented an exception to the rule. “This video shows serious allegations of military abuse, which is not a common factor within British forces,” said British military spokesman Flight Lieutenant Chris Thomas, speaking from a UK military base in Basra. “We hope this material does not adversely affect this impression.” Video images showed British soldiers kicking and punching four young Iraqi civilians with batons. The video was first obtained by UK tabloid News of the World, which has refused to reveal the identity of the tape’s owner. According to the newspaper, the beatings took place in southern Iraq in 2004 and were apparently filmed by an unidentified cameraman, who can be heard laughing and calling on the soldiers to beat the youngsters. “This abuse, which is similar to that seen by US forces in Abu Ghraib prison, just makes it more certain that the time for multinational forces is over and they have to leave Iraq as soon as possible,” said al-Askari. According to the local branch of the Ministry of Human Rights in Basra, similar accusations against British forces have been reported over the past two years. “In 2005, nearly 50 cases were reported to our Basra office accusing British forces of abusing youngsters in the south of Iraq,” said Manhel al-Bara’a, a senior official in Basra’s human rights department. “This also included allegations of the rape of boys, but we haven’t been able to prove any of the claims and the cases have been archived,” al-Bara’a added. Thomas said that the British army had not been informed of any other cases of alleged abuse. However, some local teenagers interviewed by IRIN claimed that they, too, had been subjected to violence by British military personnel. Haydar Abdullah, a 16-year-old Basra resident said he was abused in July of last year. “We stopped to speak to them [British forces] because we were curious to see a military tank,” he said. “But one of the soldiers came over angrily and started to shout at his colleagues and hit me in the face.” After being forced inside the tank, Abdullah recalled being forced by a soldier to look at pornographic pictures. “Then one of the soldiers took my hand and started to press it over his genital area, saying words I couldn’t understand,” he continued. Shortly afterwards, Abdullah said the soldiers kicked him and his relatives until one of them lost consciousness. “All of us were badly hurt because their boots are very heavy,” he said. “I still suffer from pain in my stomach because of my injuries.” Abdullah’s father tried to lodge a complaint at the British military base in Basra, but said he was unable to approach the compound’s main gate. Another youth recalled a similar experience. “My friend and I were playing football near a British military compound last year when six British soldiers came over and began shouting and swearing at us,” said 14-year-old Basra resident Ali Razak. “They started hitting us and kicking our genital areas,” Razak recalled. “Later, two of the soldiers took my friend aside and raped him in front of me.” In 2005, three British soldiers serving in Iraq were jailed and dismissed from the army for involvement in prisoner abuse.