UK soldier admits war crime against Iraqis

A British soldier pleaded guilty on Sept. 19 to committing a war crime by inhumanely treating detainees while serving in Iraq. Corporal Donald Payne is one of seven British soldiers facing court martial over the death in custody three years ago of an Iraqi hotel receptionist in the southern city of Basra. The men face charges ranging from manslaughter to negligence. Five of the seven were serving with the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment while two others were with the Intelligence Corps at the time of the death of Baha Musa after his arrest by a British patrol six months after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. The abuse began, the court was told, after the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment raided a number of hotels in Basra following intelligence that they were being used as bases by insurgents. Most of the Iraqis allegedly mistreated were arrested at the Haitham Hotel where the soldiers found an arms cache including rifles, grenades, bayonets and timers which they believed to be proof of bomb-making activity. The men were then brought to a British detention facility. Following his detention, Musa had 93 injuries on his body, including a broken nose and ribs, while another detainee was so badly beaten that he nearly died from kidney failure. The court also heard that one of the other British soldiers being tried admitted during a drunken conversation that he was worried about the investigation into the treatment of Musa, because "we all kicked him to death." Chief among the accused is Payne, 35, who is charged with the manslaughter of Musa, inhumane treatment of prisoners and trying to pervert the cause of justice by getting people to lie about the cause of death. The prosecution accused Payne, a military policeman in charge of the detainees, of beatings, sleep deprivation and forcing the men to stand for hours in extremely painful positions. "We are dealing in this case with systematic abuse against prisoners involving unacceptable violence against persons who were detained in custody, hooded, handcuffed and wholly unable to protect themselves," prosecutor Julian Bevan told the seven-man court martial panel. He accused Payne of being mainly responsible for the abuse, which included severe beatings and forcing detainees to drink urine. Payne pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment of Iraqi detainees–a war crime–but not guilty to the other charges. On Sept. 20, Payne testified that he conducted what he called "the choir" by hitting and kicking Iraqi prisoners to elicit a range of groans and screams. He said he took pleasure in making the detainees suffer and "plainly enjoyed" showing off his "choir" to visitors. The court martial was shown a video of Payne hurling abuse at hooded prisoners and forcing them to maintain a stress position which has been banned in the British forces for more than 30 years. The prosecutor, Julian Bevan, said the choir was conducted on a "pretty regular basis" during the 36 hours the men were held. "It is the very openness that is frankly astonishing–no effort being made to hush it up." Bevan said the video footage seized by investigators was taken by another soldier as a keepsake. It showed Payne striding around shouting abuse at prisoners who slipped from the stress position–backs to the wall, knees bent, arms stretched parallel to the floor and hands cuffed in front of them–which was outlawed in 1972. The judge refused to allow the video to be released for fear that it could provoke revenge attacks against British troops. Also in court were Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, charged with assault causing actual bodily harm, Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, and Private Darren Fallon, 23, charged with the inhumane treatment of detainees. Major Michael Peebles, 35, and Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37, both of the Intelligence Corps, and Commanding Officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca are all charged with negligently performing a duty by failing to stop the abuse. All six pleaded not guilty. Mendonca claimed that his men faced a constant threat of attack, worked as many as 20 hours a day and could not sleep in the sweltering heat during their brief breaks. Britain, Washington's main ally in Iraq, has investigated scores of deaths and injuries of Iraqis since joining the war. Three British soldiers were jailed in February 2005 for abusing Iraqi detainees in a case that drew comparisons with the mistreatment of Iraqis by US troops at the Abu Ghraib prison.