MoD pressed for full evidence on Iraq abuse

Baha Mousa inquiry: MoD pressed for full evidence on Iraq abuse

Liberty demands 'full and frank disclosure without delay' after Guardian revelations about military interrogation manuals

26 October 2010 - The Ministry of Defence is under pressure to release all of its evidence to an independent inquiry into the death of an Iraqi detainee in British custody after it emerged that military interrogators were still being trained to mistreat prisoners after the 2003 incident.

Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel worker, died in the custody of British soldiers in September 2003 after he and other detainees were abused and beaten.

However the Guardian reported yesterday that training materials drawn up secretly between 2005 and 2008 tell interrogators to try to provoke humiliation, insecurity, disorientation, exhaustion, anxiety and fear in the prisoners they are questioning, and suggest ways in which this could be achieved.

It revealed that one PowerPoint demonstration created in September 2005 suggested that prisoners should be stripped before they were questioned. "Get them naked," the training aid said. "Keep them naked if they do not follow commands." A manual prepared in April 2008 suggests that "Cpers" – captured personnel – be kept in conditions of physical discomfort and intimidated.

"The only sensible MoD response to these humiliating PowerPoint revelations is full and frank disclosure without delay," said Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty. "The department had to be dragged through the courts before it conceded an inquiry into Baha Mousa's death. Let's hope that saner counsel will prevail this time," she said. {read rest}