(Image source: BBC)

BY CAMILLE MAESTRACCI

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

You're watching multisource world video news analysis from Newsy. 
 

The British army is under fire -- for allegedly torturing an Iraqi civilian to death.

A new report details the circumstances surrounding the death of Baha Mousa.

It concludes Mousa died of asphyxiation and 93 injuries to his body while under UK detention in 2003.

One of the soldiers in charge of the prisoner tells the BBC:

“Mr. Mousa was standing and he was heading toward the door trying to get out. He looked quite dazed. He was saying shouting something in Arabic. I shouted it. Two of the guys got Mr. Mousa, took him back into the room, screaming, punching, kicking going on. He was just screaming out—wanted out of the room.”

Top British Army General Peter Wall said the incident cast a ‘dark shadow’ on the Army. But Defence Secretary Liam Fox says the incident won’t stop interrogation:

“Defence Secretary Liam Fox said Mr Mousa's death was ‘deplorable, shocking and shameful’… But he rejected the inquiry's call for the MoD to ban the use of the verbally threatening ‘harsh approach’ in tactical questioning, the immediate interrogation of suspects to obtain valuable intelligence.” (The Independent)

Mousa’s family was expecting more from the report and is still awaiting sanctions. Al Jazeera reports, though the inquiry criticizes the British army, it does not draw broader conclusions.

“While the inquiry criticised individual soldiers for using unlawful methods of interrogation, Gage did not suggest there had been systematic abuse by the British army... A leaked report last month suggested that the army would be cleared of systematic torture.”

But Germany’s Deutsche Welle reports, the incident -- in fact -- could point to evidence of a widespread issue for the British Army.

“At least 127 other Iraqis were allegedly abused while in British detention. The growing number of Iraqis who claim they were mistreated could point to broader systemic abuse.”

And there is historical precedence.

In 2007, several members of a British battalion faced similar allegations.

All were cleared except one, who became the first member of the British armed forces convicted of a war crime.

Prime minister David Cameron tells ITN News another incident like this will never happen again:

“Britain does not cover these things up, we do not sweep them under the carpet, we deal with them because we want the British army, which I think is an excellent institution, to have uphold the higher standards. The army wants that, I want that and we must make sure this doesn’t happen again.”


Transcript by Newsy.