Basra, July 26: A new inquiry into yet another controversial torture case in the Iraq war has found the disturbing possibility of a cover-up by the British army.
The case involves one of the most notorious incidents of the Iraq conflict, in which British soldiers allegedly tortured, murdered and mutilated 20 unarmed Iraqi detainees back in 2004.
At the time, many relatives claimed the corpses showed signs of torture. However an initial probe by the British military had found no wrongdoing on the part of the troops.
But now an investigation by Greater Manchester police has raised the disturbing possibility of an army cover-up, the Observer said on Saturday.
The report shows that the army failed to collect forensic evidence and ignored key witnesses during their investigation of the incident known as the “Battle of Danny Boy”.
It also concludes that some interviews with Iraqi detainees may have been conducted in an effort to justify their arrest, not to probe human rights abuses.
The 120-page report is expected to be significant for a judicial review that will examine the Iraqi claims next week.
Human Rights groups have presented evidence of torture and mutilation of the men including, close-range bullet wounds, the removal of eyes and stab wounds.
The original army investigation — which was concluded in March 2005 — was centered on a firefight between soldiers from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (PWRR) and alleged insurgents at a road checkpoint, known among the troops as Danny Boy, near Majar al-Kabir in Maysan province on 14 May 2004.
The next day the mutilated bodies of 20 Iraqis, who were taken as prisoners to Camp Abu Naji, an army base in Amara, were returned to their families.
The Ministry of Defense has maintained that all 20 died “on the battlefield” and their bodies were then taken to Abu Naji to be photographed. It claims that only nine live prisoners were taken to the camp, and all left alive.
—-Agencies