(British) Government fails to block Iraqi death inquiry (War Crimes)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1952066,00.html

The Government must hold an "independent and effective" inquiry into the death of an Iraqi hotel receptionist who died in British military custody in Basra, the Court of Appeal ruled this morning.

The appeal judges upheld a decision made by the High Court last December that the European Convention on Human Rights did apply in British prisons in Iraq, and that the Ministry of Defence must launch an independent investigation into the death of Baha Mousa, 26, who died two days after being arrested in September 2003.

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Baha Mousa was arrested by soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment in 2003, during a raid searching for weapons in a hotel. He was taken into custody at Darul Dhyafa, a British base in Basra, where he died at some point during the next two days, allegedly by beatings at the hands of his prison guards. Other Iraqis in custody said they had heard him groaning in his cell that he was dying.

Mr Mousa's death was investigated by the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police and a post-mortem was carried out by a Home Office pathologist, who was flown out to Basra. The investigation into his death reported to the Ministry of Defence in April 2004, but its findings have never been made public.

Three soldiers, the first British troops to be charged with a war crime under the International Criminal Court Act, were charged in connection with Mr Mousa's death in July.

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