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UK concedes new Basra death probe UK concedes new Basra death probe
(about 1 hour later)
The defence secretary has conceded there is a need for a new investigation into the deaths of 20 Iraqis in Basra in 2004, the High Court has been told.The defence secretary has conceded there is a need for a new investigation into the deaths of 20 Iraqis in Basra in 2004, the High Court has been told.
Six Iraqis are calling for a public inquiry into claims of torture and murder, but judges have yet to rule. Six Iraqis are asking the court to order a public inquiry into claims UK troops tortured and murdered captives after a fire-fight in May 2004.
Bob Ainsworth has apologised for the MoD failure to provide enough evidence, with one judge calling the case so far "a complete waste of time" and money. Bob Ainsworth apologised for failing to provide enough information for judges to make a fully-informed decision.
The MoD says the dead were killed on the battlefield and denies wrongdoing.The MoD says the dead were killed on the battlefield and denies wrongdoing.
The government had also maintained that the Royal Military Police (RMP) had already investigated fully, and had rejected the allegations of murder, torture and mutilation.
The secretary of state profoundly regrets these failures - [he] apologises to the court for the difficulties that these failures have created Hugh Giles, Treasury Solicitor's department
The Iraqis argue the RMP investigations were flawed and inadequate.
The defence secretary's concession does not necessarily mean the Iraqi group will be granted their wish of a public inquiry, on which the judges have yet to make a decision.
The case is centred on allegations that Iraqi civilians were detained following "the battle of Danny Boy" - a firefight between British soldiers and Iraqi insurgents near the town of Al Majar-al-Kabir, in Maysan Province, on 14 May 2004.The case is centred on allegations that Iraqi civilians were detained following "the battle of Danny Boy" - a firefight between British soldiers and Iraqi insurgents near the town of Al Majar-al-Kabir, in Maysan Province, on 14 May 2004.
Lawyers for the Iraqis produced medical evidence in court that they said supported allegations the captives were taken to British base Camp Abu Naji, where they were tortured, murdered, and their bodies mutilated. The secretary of state profoundly regrets these failures - [he] apologises to the court for the difficulties that these failures have created Hugh Giles, Treasury solicitor's department
Five of the six applicants allege they were themselves mistreated by British forces after being detained. Lawyers for the Iraqis produced medical evidence in court that they said supported allegations that captives were taken to the UK military's Camp Abu Naji, where they were tortured, murdered, and their bodies mutilated.
The government says the RMP investigation shows that the bodies were taken back to camp so that insurgent ring-leaders - believed to be responsible for earlier attacks on British forces - could be identified. Five of the six applicants allege they were also mistreated by British forces after being detained.
The MoD says that just nine Iraqis were detained at Camp Abu Naji - and that all left the British base alive. 'Waste of time'
This is an extremely worrying situation Lord Justice Scott Baker On Monday, Mr Ainsworth conceded there was insufficient information for judges to be able to make a fully-informed decision on the allegations, so a separate investigation was needed.
The case is being heard by Lord Justice Scott Baker, Mr Justice Silber and Mr Justice Sweeney. The court heard a letter from senior government law officer Hugh Giles, which said the defence secretary "profoundly regretted" a failure to make documents available to the court in good time, and that searches for relevant documents "cannot be said to have been effective".
When told of the defence secretary's concession - that there should be fresh investigations compliant with human rights laws - Lord Justice Scott Baker said the court hearing had to date been "a complete waste of time - at vast expense".
He said the court was "concerned" that the government had initially sought to withhold information on the grounds that disclosure would be damaging to the public interest.
A public interest immunity certificate (PII) had been sought by the government "on a partly false basis", he said.
He added: "This is an extremely worrying situation. The court has to be able to rely on the credibility of these certificates.
"To be furnished with a false, or partly false, certificate - as this one was - completely undermines the process, and is a matter of very great concern."
The disclosure of documents relating to the RMP investigations, which concluded that British soldiers had done nothing wrong and the Iraqis had died on the battlefield, are crucial to the case.
In May Lord Justice Scott Baker said the late release of documents had thrown the hearing into confusion, calling it a "totally appalling state of affairs".
As a result the treasury solicitor and the head of the Royal Military Police announced a review into the way government departments release documents to the courts.
Danny Boy survivors
On Monday, Mr Ainsworth conceded there was insufficient information for judges to be able to make a fully informed decision on the allegations, so a separate investigation was needed.
Clive Lewis QC, for the government, said the secretary of state had not made documents available to the court in good time.
Reading a letter from senior government law officer Hugh Giles, he said the minister was therefore proposing "an investigation of the murder of Iraqi detainees at Camp Abu Naji in Southern Iraq on the night of May 14-15 2004 and specific allegations by five Iraq nationals of ill-treatment".
The letter went on to say there had been "failures" by the defence secretary to disclose the documents.
"The secretary of state profoundly regrets these failures. The secretary of state apologises to the court for the difficulties that these failures have created.""The secretary of state profoundly regrets these failures. The secretary of state apologises to the court for the difficulties that these failures have created."
Mr Giles - head of litigation at the treasury solicitor's department - added that it had become clear that "searches conducted to date cannot be said to have been effective". Therefore, the letter said, the minister was proposing "an investigation of the murder of Iraqi detainees at Camp Abu Naji in southern Iraq on the night of May 14-15 2004 and specific allegations by five Iraq nationals of ill-treatment".
As Mr Ainsworth could not be sure all the documents had been disclosed on time he conceded that "realistically, the court cannot be sure it is in possession of all the material it needs". Following the defence secretary's concession, Lord Justice Scott Baker said the court hearing had to date been "a complete waste of time - at vast expense".
The six seeking an independent public inquiry include Khuder Al-Sweady, uncle of teenager Hamid Al-Sweady, one of the 20 who died. The court was "concerned", he said, that the government had initially sought to withhold information on the grounds that disclosure would be damaging to the public interest.
The defence secretary's concession does not necessarily mean the Iraqi group will be granted their wish for a public inquiry, on which the judges have yet to rule.
RMP findings
The disclosure of documents relating to a Royal Military Police investigation, which concluded that British soldiers had done nothing wrong and the Iraqis had died on the battlefield, are crucial to the case.
In May, Lord Justice Scott Baker said the late release of documents had thrown the hearing into confusion, and called it a "totally appalling state of affairs".
As a result, the treasury solicitor and the head of the RMP announced a review into the way government departments release documents to the courts.
The RMP investigation concluded that bodies were taken back to the camp so that insurgent ringleaders - believed to be responsible for earlier attacks on British forces - could be identified.
The MoD says that just nine Iraqi captives were detained at Camp Abu Naji - and that they all left the British base alive.
The Iraqis argue the RMP investigations were flawed and inadequate.
The six applicants seeking an independent public inquiry include Khuder Al-Sweady, uncle of teenager Hamid Al-Sweady, one of the 20 who died.
The court was told the other five applicants were survivors of the Danny Boy incident - Hussein Fadel Abbas, Atiyah Sayid Abdelreza, Hussein Jabbari Ali, Mahdi Jassim Abdullah and Ahmad Jabbar Ahmood.The court was told the other five applicants were survivors of the Danny Boy incident - Hussein Fadel Abbas, Atiyah Sayid Abdelreza, Hussein Jabbari Ali, Mahdi Jassim Abdullah and Ahmad Jabbar Ahmood.
The case continues.The case continues.