BULFORD CAMP, England - A British soldier pleaded guilty on Tuesday to
committing a war crime by inhumanely treating detainees while serving in Iraq.
British troops patrol
their base in southern Iraq, in 2005. A British soldier became the first
ever member of the country's armed forces to admit to a war crime, as
prosecutors listed alleged "systematic abuse" of civilian detainees in
Iraq. [AFP] |
Corporal Donald Payne is one of seven British soldiers facing court martial
over the death in custody three years ago of an Iraqi hotel receptionist in the
southern city of Basra.
Five of the seven were serving with the Queens Lancashire Regiment while two
others were with the Intelligence Corps at the time of the death of Baha Musa
after his arrest by a British patrol six months after 2003 the U.S.-led invasion
of Iraq.
The men face an array of charges from manslaughter to negligence.
Musa, the court heard, had 93 injuries on his body, including a broken nose
and ribs, while another man was so badly beaten that he nearly died from kidney
failure.
All were held in a raid on a hotel in Basra as the insurgency grew. Guns,
grenades, ammunition, bayonets and a sniper scope were found in the raid.
Britain, Washington's main ally in Iraq, has investigated scores of deaths
and injuries of Iraqis since joining the war.
Three UK soldiers were jailed in February 2005 for abusing Iraqi detainees in
a case which drew comparisons with the mistreatment of Iraqis by U.S. troops at
the Abu Ghraib prison.
Chief among the accused is Payne, 35, charged with the manslaughter of Musa,
inhumane treatment of prisoners and trying to pervert the cause of justice by
getting people to lie about the cause of death.
"SYSTEMATIC ABUSE"
Opening the prosecution case against him, Julian Bevan accused Payne -- a
military policeman in charge of the detainees -- of beatings, sleep deprivation
and forcing the men to stand for hours in extremely painful positions.
"We are dealing in this case with systematic abuse against prisoners
involving unacceptable violence against persons who were detained in custody,
hooded, handcuffed and wholly unable to protect themselves," he told the 7-man
court martial panel.
He accused Payne of being mainly responsible for the abuse, which included
tweaking of nipples, punching and forcing the drinking of urine.
In court on Tuesday, Payne pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment of Iraqi
detainees -- a war crime -- but not guilty to the other two charges.
Also in court were Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, charged with assault causing
actual bodily harm, Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, and Private Darren
Fallon, 23, charged with the inhumane treatment of detainees.
Major Michael Peebles, 35, and Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37 -- both of the
Intelligence Corps -- and Commanding Officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca are all
charged with negligently performing a duty by failing to stop the abuse.
All six pleaded not guilty.
In pre-trial hearings, Judge Stuart McKinnon ruled that no pictures or images
of the accused nor details of their home addresses or locations may be published
for fear of revenge attacks on themselves or their families.
The high-profile trial at the Bulford army camp near Salisbury, some 70 miles
southwest of London, is expected to last up to four months.
