By IRNA,
London : Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is being sued over the death of a 62-year old Iraqi grandmother amid allegations that Sabiha Khudur Talib was tortured and executed by UK troops in November 2006.
Lawyers acting for the bereaved family are preparing legal action against the MoD at the High Court in London demanding an independent inquiry to investigate the case as a possible murder.
“The possibility that British forces in 2006 could have tortured and executed an innocent elderly woman should shock the nation,” said Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers (PIL).
“Such an allegation must be immediately independently investigated as a possible murder,” Shiner said in a statement obtained by IRNA Monday.
“No stone should be left unturned by the Government in an effort to establish the evidence in this case.”
The MoD has confirmed that Talib was killed by British soldiers in Basra and said the case is now being investigated by the Royal Military Police (RMP), insisting that she was caught in crossfire in a raid on her house and died later in a military hospital.
But statements from her sons, who were at home during the raid, claimed that after the shooting they saw their mother being led away alive by British troops and that the next time she was seen was when police told them they had found a body on Al-Zubayr highway.
“How she came to be dumped in a British body bag by the side of a road having allegedly been abducted by British soldiers requires the most anxious scrutiny,” Shiner said.
“The MoD cannot dismiss these allegations with the claim, unsubstantiated by any investigation, that she was injured in cross-fire and later died in a military hospital. The evidence points to a brutal murder and not to a tragic accident.” he said.
The case is believed to be among nearly 50 cases of abuse and torture carried out during Britain’s occupation of southern Iraq that is being investigated by the MoD.
Last year, the British government was forced to launch a public inquiry into the 2003 death of Basra hotel receptionist Abu Mousa while in British detention, after the MoD admitted human rights breaches and agreed to pay record compensation to his family.
A fresh investigation is also being held into the 2004 deaths of 20 Iraq prisoners, who are alleged to have been murdered by Britsh troops after being detained following an intense fire fight at the Danny Boy checkpoint in Majar-al-Kabir.
Shiner, who has been acting for many former Iraqi detainees, is calling for a full public inquiry into all abuse claims made during Britain’s six-year involvement in the war.