The prosecution of seven soldiers accused of offences linked to the death of an Iraqi civilian in British military custody collapsed today when a High Court judge threw out six of the nine charges. The dramatic acquittal of four of the soldiers from The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment (QLR), after more than five months of a court martial thought to have cost up to £20 million, put back in the spotlight the system of charging members of the British Armed Forces with offences arising from controversial incidents in Iraq.
Among those cleared was Colonel Jorge Mendonca, the regiment’s former commanding officer and holder of the Distinguished Service Order. He is the highest-ranking British serviceman in recent history to face a court martial.
Only one of five cases relating to the alleged abuse or fatal shooting of Iraqi civilians has resulted in the conviction of all the defendants.
After his acquittal, Colonel Mendonca, 43, issued a brief statement in which he said that he had “served his country for 25 years” as best he could, but that the last two years had been difficult, particularly for his wife, Louise, and family who had “borne the brunt of the pressure”.
The last five months, he said, had been “particularly stressful for them”. Last year Mrs Mendonca revealed that she had thought the charge against her husband had been a joke. “I said 'They gave you a DSO and now they are charging you with war crimes,'” she said.
Colonel Mendonca, who plans to stay in the Army, thanked colleagues who had supported him. He added that he had been privileged to command the QLR in Iraq who had had to work in “indescribably difficult conditions to make Basra a better place”. He hoped their achievements would not be forgotten because of the allegations in the court martial case.
He is believed to be the first commanding officer to face a court martial.
The trial of five members of The QLR and two members of the Intelligence Corps is reputed to be the longest court martial in 100 years. It still has another two or three weeks to run because Mr Justice McKinnon, the High Court judge presiding over proceedings, ruled that the two members of the Intelligence Corps, both charged with negligently performing a duty, still had a case to answer.
All the defendants were charged in relation to the detention of nine Iraqi civilians who had been arrested in September 2003 at Hotel Haitham in Basra during an arms raid when AK47 rifles were found. The Iraqis were beaten up over 36 hours, and Baha Musa, 26, died. Photographs of the soldiers were banned by the judge after threats to their life. This was lifted in the case of Colonel Mendonca yesterday.
Mr Justice McKinnon directed the panel of seven senior army officers at the court martial at Bulford Camp in Wiltshire to acquit four of the QLR defendants on charges ranging from inhumane treatment to negligence, and ordered them to find not guilty a fifth soldier, Corporal Donald Payne, of two charges of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.
Corporal Payne, 35, had previously pleaded guilty to a third charge of inhumane treatment, a war crime under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. He will be sentenced at the end of the court martial next month.
The judge ruled there was no case to answer against Colonel Mendonca, who had been charged with negligence for failing to ensure that the nine Iraqis detained and held at the QLR temporary detention centre in Basra in September 2003 were not ill treated.
Mr Justice McKinnon also directed the jury panel to acquit Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 22, and Private Darren Fallon, 23, both charged with the war crime of inhumane treatment of persons, and Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 29, charged with common assault.
Corporal Payne had pleaded guilty at the beginning of the trial to inhumane treatment, becoming the first British soldier to be convicted of a war crime. However, he had also been charged with the manslaughter of Mr Musa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist who died after 36 hours of detention during which he was hooded, assaulted and forcibly restrained when he tried to escape.
Mr Justice McKinnon ruled that he be found not guilty of manslaughter. Corporal Payne was also acquitted of perverting the course of justice.
Two of the defendants, Major Michael Peebles and Warrant Officer Mark Davies, both of the Intelligence Corps who were involved in the detention of Iraqi civilians and their preparation for interrogation, will continue to face trial.
The judge’s reasons for deciding to acquit the other defendants of six charges cannot be made public until after the trial of Major Peebles and Warrant Officer Davies is over.
After the acquittals, the Ministry of Defence made it clear that the Armed Forces had a duty to “conduct themselves in accordance with the law wherever they serve and in every operational circumstance”.
An MoD spokesman said that an internal inquiry into the possibility of institutionalised ill treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war during the post-combat phase was still ongoing. He added that a report would be delivered to General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff.
Brigadier Geoffrey Sheldon, Colonel of the QLR and a retired officer, appealed to General Dannatt to think carefully about the consequences of the acquittals. “The chain of command must be seen to be representing people under the most difficult circumstances,” Brigadier Sheldon said.
From the London Times Online http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1385154.ece