Former minister denies seeing UK abuse of Iraqi prisoners
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, June 11, IRNA -- Former British defence secretary Geoff Hoon has denied seeing a video showing UK troops abusing Iraqi prisoners in 2003 despite it's being replayed countless times on television news bulletins, newspaper websites and on YouTube.
"If you forgive me, I have not seen that film at all", Hoon said when the one-minute film as presented as key evidence at the inquiry into the death of Basra hotel worker Baha Mousa while in British custody.
"If it's what it appears to be, it looks pretty appalling and clearly if British soldiers engaged in that it's reprehensible. But there have been occasions in Iraq when pictures were faked. So I am not sure it is wise to comment further," he said on Thursday.
Counsel to the inquiry, Gerard Elias, assured Hoon, who was defence secretary at the time, that there was "no issue" that the persons depicted were Iraqi detainees, including Mousa.
The prisoners identified themselves, and the soldier abusing them, including Corporal Donald Payne, who was later jailed for inhumane treatment.
The inquiry heard that Hoon, and former armed forces minister Adam Ingram were copied into a memo stating that Mousa spent 24 hours out of 36 hours hooded in detention before his death.
The video was taken the day before the 26-year-old hotel receptionist died in September 2003 after sustaining 93 injuries while being detained by British soldiers.
The inquiry, which opened last year, has already heard that hooding and other prisoner-handling methods that were supposed to be banned continued to be used by UK troops in Iraq.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted to "substantial breaches" of the European Human Rights Convention over the killing of Mousa and has agreed to pay a record £2.83 million ($4.3 m) in compensation to his family and nine other men detained at the time.
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