Fresh evidence has emerged that British military intelligence ran a secret operation in Iraq which authorised degrading and unlawful treatment of prisoners. Documents reveal that prisoners were kept hooded for long periods in intense heat and deprived of sleep by defence intelligence officers. They also reveal that officers running the operation claimed to be answerable only "directly to London". The revelations will further embarrass the British government, which last month was forced to release documents showing it knew that UK resident and terror suspect Binyam Mohamed had been tortured in Pakistan.The latest documents emerged during the inquiry into Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel worker beaten to death while in the custody of British troops in September 2003. The inquiry is looking into how interrogation techniques banned by the Government in 1972 and considered torture and degrading treatment were used again in Iraq. Lawyers believe the new evidence supports suspicions that an intelligence unit - the Joint Forward Interrogation Team (JFIT) which operated in Iraq - used illegal "coercive techniques" and was not answerable to military commanders in Iraq, despite official denials it operated independently.
In November, the human rights lawyer Phil Shiner, who represents Baha Mousais family and forced the public inquiry, lodged a further 14 cases of abuse, naming JFIT. This is the first time that evidence to support the claims from the British military has emerged. There are now 47 claims of abuse lodged against the Government. Yesterday Mr Shiner said: "It's been established that JFIT were a separate compound and their personnel were not accountable to a military chain of command. There is a mass of evidence from this and other cases which shows JFIT used coercive interrogation techniques - forbidden under law - as standard operating procedure. We need an independent inquiry to examine who was responsible."A MoD spokesman declined to comment while the inquiry was ongoing.
In November, the human rights lawyer Phil Shiner, who represents Baha Mousais family and forced the public inquiry, lodged a further 14 cases of abuse, naming JFIT. This is the first time that evidence to support the claims from the British military has emerged. There are now 47 claims of abuse lodged against the Government. Yesterday Mr Shiner said: "It's been established that JFIT were a separate compound and their personnel were not accountable to a military chain of command. There is a mass of evidence from this and other cases which shows JFIT used coercive interrogation techniques - forbidden under law - as standard operating procedure. We need an independent inquiry to examine who was responsible."A MoD spokesman declined to comment while the inquiry was ongoing.
