Iraq Revisited: British Soldier Admits War Crimes

Extracted from The Guardian Newspaper, UK
Tuesday September 19, 2006

A corporal today became the first member of the British armed forces to admit a war crime in court when he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilians detained in Iraq.

Corporal Donald Payne is one of seven British troops who went on trial today facing charges linked to the death of an Iraqi civilian who was in British custody and to the alleged ill-treatment of other detainees.

The charges against all the defendants - which include two officers - relate to the death of Baha Musa, 26, an Iraqi civilian, in Basra, southern Iraq, in September 2003.

The opening of today's court martial at Bulford Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, marks the first time British service personnel have been prosecuted for war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

Opening its case, the prosecution said detainees were repeatedly kicked and beaten, and that doctors carrying out a post-mortem on Musa's body discovered 93 injuries.

Cpl Payne, 35, formerly of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment now of the renamed Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, admitted inhumanely treating civilians but pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.

His six co-defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges facing them.

Julian Bevan QC, prosecuting, said the case against the seven defendants centred upon the alleged ill-treatment received by Iraqi civilians held for a period of about 36 hours at a temporary detention facility in Basra between September 14 and 15, 2003.

Mr Bevan said the detainees were repeatedly beaten, kicked and punched while handcuffed and hooded with sacks; made to maintain a stress position for unacceptable lengths of time; deprived of sleep; continually shouted at; and "generally abused in temperatures rising to almost 60C".

"One civilian, Baha Musa, died as a result, in part from the multiple injuries he had received - there being no less than 93 injuries on his body at the post-mortem stage, including fractured ribs and a broken nose," Mr Bevan told a seven-man judging panel.

Another detainee suffered such serious kidney injuries that resulted in renal failure which could have killed him but for medical intervention, the prosecutor said. He said another detainee also suffered serious kidney problems which, when examined, were found to be caused by injuries consistent with being punched and kicked.

"In short, it is the crown's case that these Iraqi civilians were treated inhumanely," Mr Bevan said. "We are not dealing in this case with robust or rough handling, which is bound to happen in the theatre that existed in Iraq, but something far more serious.

"We are not dealing with the actions of a soldier or soldiers in the heat of the moment whilst on patrol in a hostile environment whose conduct is questionable.

"We are dealing with systematic abuse against prisoners involving unacceptable violence against persons who were detained in custody, hooded and cuffed, and wholly unable to protect themselves over a very long period of time."

The court heard that following Musa's death, Cpl Payne attempted to pervert the course of justice by telling those who had witnessed him beating Musa not to speak about it to those who were going to investigate.

Of Cpl Payne, Mr Bevan said that, despite his admission of inhumane treatment, "his behaviour went some way beyond what he admits". "Before he [Musa] died, he had removed his handcuffs, and it was believed by Cpl Payne that he was trying to escape," the prosecutor told the court. "Certain measures were taken by Cpl Payne."

Aside from Cpl Payne, another two of the defendants face war crimes charges. Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, and Private Darren Fallon, 23, both of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, both deny a charge of inhumane treatment, which is a war crime under the International Criminal Court Act .

All the other charges faced by Cpl Payne and the six co-defendants are alleged offences under the British Army Act 1955.

Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternative count of common assault.

Major Michael Peebles, 35, and Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37, both of the Intelligence Corps, each face a charge of negligently performing a duty.

Colonel Jorge Mendonca, 42, formerly the commander of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment - as it was known before its merger to become the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment - is also accused of negligently performing a duty.

The "negligently performing a duty" charge, faced by three of the men, relates to an alleged failure to take reasonable steps to ensure that military personnel under the officers' control did not mistreat Iraqi civilians being detained.

Mr Bevan said the "sheer openness" with which the detainees were inhumanely treated indicated that there was a failure of more senior officers in their duty to protect their prisoners.

Mr Justice McKinnon, a high court judge sitting in the role of judge advocate, is presiding over the proceedings.

The trial, which has been listed for 16 weeks, continues.