By IRNA
London : Dozens of Iraqi detainees were tortured, killed and their corpses mutilated by soldiers at a British army camp, it has been claimed following the lifting of a gagging order to prevent the allegations being reported.
Some 22 detainees died and another nine were tortured after a gun battle near the town of Majar al Kabir in 2004, according to surviving victims quoted by their lawyers.
Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers said the testimonies of five of the surviving men were taken during a visit to Istanbul earlier this month contained “shocking material and were combined to give a harrowing account of what took place.”
“I have never heard such evidence in nearly 30 years of being a solicitor,” said Shiner, who represents the victims along with fellow human rights solicitor Martyn Day.
“What took place in Majar is of massive consequence not just for the British Army and the British Government but for the British people,” Day warned.
Their comments came after the High Court in London lifted a gagging order put in place in December to prevent publication of the issues surrounding the 31 Iraqi detainees taken into custody on May 14, 2002.
Previously the media had been prevented from reporting any of the claims made by the Iraqi families and those who say they were survivors of the abuse.
But at the High Court, Lord Justice Moses ruled that the attempt to stop the media reporting on the allegations, in particular, by naming the soldiers allegedly involved, had no basis in law.
“It is not the way it works. If you’re right about that there would be one rule for the Ministry of Defence and another for the ordinary citizen,” the judge told Jonathan Swift, counsel for Defence Secretary Des Browne.
The lawyers are seeking compensation for the Iraqi victims as well as a High Court ruling that the British government is legally obliged to set up an independent inquiry into the incident.