british torture standards.

Britain recently arrested a Nepal Army colonel for alleged Torture . It did it under the guise of its International Obligations. Obligations that it did not think of when it protected  Pinochet.  Obligations it does not think of and apply  when it is a matter of arresting Israelis accused of worse crimes than the colonel from a poor country with no political clout.   The double standards are appalling.

And now , this.  Torture (and worse) by its own  soldiers.  Torture that was "systemic"  and "emblematic of a whole system in operation … a callous culture that … permeated far up the command chain, both military and government".




Britain will face fresh charges of breaching international law over the alleged torture and killing of prisoners during the war in Iraq, which began almost exactly 10 years ago. The allegations will be unveiled in the high court, when Britain will stand accused of a "systemic" policy of abuse committed over five years, from 2003 to 2008.

The MoD contends that any general problems of detention and interrogation were dealt with by an inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa, an innocent hotel worker killed while in British custody in Basra in 2003, and continuing internal investigations by its own Iraq Historic Allegations Team.

But the author of a book on the killing of Baha Mousa, Andrew Williams – a law professor at the University of Warwick – says: "What happened to Baha Mousa, and how the army and the government responded to his death is emblematic of a whole system in operation … a callous culture that … permeated far up the command chain, both military and government".

Shiner says of his evidence that the Baha Mousa inquiry "may have shone a torch into a dark corner" but what is before the court next week is more like "a stadium in which we will switch on the floodlights."

Shiner's files are deeply shocking. Insults to Islam and sexual depravity feature frequently in the statements: a soldier is alleged to have masturbated over a prisoner, another to have committed sodomy with his finger; female interrogators are claimed to have stripped and feigned seduction in exchange for "information".

Most of the alleged incidents took place while prisoners were in custody, though some occurred during "strike operations" on people's homes, with suspects and their families allegedly subjected to abuse and crude violence. Prisoners who died in custody were invariably said to have done so due to "natural causes", despite beatings and kickings.

The hearing comes just weeks away from the 10th anniversary of the Iraq invasion, and will be counted as a measure of how far Britain can reckon with its own legacy in Iraq. South African archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu last year urged in this newspaper that the then prime minister Tony Blair and others should be prosecuted by the international criminal court over the legality and conduct of the invasion.

"This is the crucial moment of decision", says Williams. "This is our last chance to get to the truth of what happened. This is what we demand of others, but we do not demand it of ourselves. What kind of message does that give the world about who we are?"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/19/british-troops-accused-iraq-torture