Baha Mousa's torture at the hands of British soldiers

The armed forces are going through its darkest periods following a landmark inquiry into the death of Iraqi civilian Baha Mousa by British soldiers.

Around 19 soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment (1QLR) were found to have inflicted an “appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence” on father-of-two Mousa who died in their custody in 2003.

Mousa endured 93 separate injuries as a result of being kicked, punched and restrained by soldiers in Basra. He was one of 10 men rounded up as suspected insurgents after weapons were found in the hotel at which seven of them worked.

The innocent men were made to go through painful and inhumane interrogation techniques which had been banned for more than 30 years. It took five years of pressure and campaigning to hold an inquiry into Mousa's death. The three-year public inquiry concluded the men were subjected to "unjustified and wholly unacceptable" hooding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, extreme noise and withholding of food and water – which contributed to Mousa's death.

Only one soldier, Corporal Donald Payne, has been punished after admitting his role in orchestrating the assaults and the inhumane treatment of Mousa in the 2006 court martial. But seven people, including Colonel Jorge Mendonca, the commanding officer, were acquitted in the court martial of all charges. Mendonca however was lambasted by the inquiry as he was a in a position where he should have been aware of what was going on.

The inquiry, led by Judge William Gage, also found the Ministry of Defence culpable of corporate and systematic failings because information about the banned techniques that were used in the torture of Mousa and nine others had been "lost".

This resulted in the techniques being left out from all Army guidelines and training. The MoD was also criticised for making inaccurate and misleading statements about the use of hooding and other interrogation techniques.

This is a dark episode for the British army and has put an unwanted spotlight on those who are currently deployed in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. While they face constant danger at the hands of insurgents and those intent to harm them, the soldiers have a responsibility to respect the rights of a human at all costs, if only to restore trust and respect in the work they do.

Picture: Baha Mousa and family