Tuesday, July 14, 2009

British Forces Face Same Challenges

As we here in the States are debating the use of courts-martial for detainees from Gitmo, courts-martial for detainee mistreatment and killings, and what to do about "enhanced interrogation" techniques and those that used them, the Brits are facing similar issues. As reported in many outlets, including here and here, the British military has opened an inquiry into the beating death of an Iraqi prisoner (Baha Mousa) in 2003. According to reports the man died of beatings while in custody and one British soldier has already been court-martialed for the incident.

Other issues of national security versus fact finding are arising in the investigation, see report here, with the British MoD refusing to turn over some information to the Inquiry.

An interesting footnote to the story, " The Ministry of Defence has already agreed to pay a total of £3million in compensation to Mr Mousa's family and other detainees who were abused."

No comments: