UK troops condemned for Iraqi child’s death

Four UK soldiers, who forced an Iraqi child into a canal at gunpoint during the British occupation of Basra in 2003, have been condemned by a senior British judge in a damning report released this month by the Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI).

Sir George Newman, a retired High Court judge responsible for the investigation, said that it was “plain and certain” that the British soldiers had caused the Iraqi child’s death.

Although the soldiers, granted anonymity, were acquitted of manslaughter by a court martial in 2006, Newman’s investigation cast doubt upon that ruling. However, the IFI’s findings will not change the decision of the court martial.

Ahmed Jabbar Kareem Ali, who was 15-years-old at the time of the incident, drowned in the Shatt Al-Basra canal in May 2003 after British soldiers, responding to reports of looting, forced him and three other Iraqis into the canal by allegedly pelting them with rocks to force them deeper into the water.

15-year-old Ahmed Jabber Kareem Ali was left to drown by British soldiers who arrested him

Ali was then described as showing clear signs of “floundering” as he was drowning, but the British soldiers responsible for the incident allowed him to perish. Prior to forcing him into the canal, the soldiers also humiliated him by making him roll around in a pool of stagnant water.

In response to the IFI’s findings, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) released a statement saying: “This was a grave incident for which we are extremely sorry.

“We are committed to investigating allegations of wrongdoing by UK forces and will use Sir George’s findings to learn lessons to help ensure nothing like this happens again.”

British abuse of Iraqi civilians

Since 2013, the IFI has investigated four Iraqi civilian deaths at the behest of the British government in order to satisfy the legal requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Other cases investigated by the IFI include that of Nadheem Abdullah who died in May 2003 after sustaining injuries resulting from “excessive force” used by British soldiers at a checkpoint. In that case, the UK government pledged to pay “appropriate compensation” to the victim’s family though, again, the case was not reopened to determine the criminal guilt of the perpetrators.

Though not investigated by the IFI, one of the most high profile incidents of British troops abusing detainees to death was the case of Baha Mousa, a hotel worker who was arrested in September 2003 and died whilst in British custody two days later.

A public enquiry led by another retired High Court judge, Sir William Gage, found that British soldiers had subjected detainees to “serious, gratuitous violence” and that there was a “serious discipline breach” by the army.

Mousa died after having been denied food, placed in dangerous stress positions, and subjected to violence. The Baha Mousa Inquiry, as the British inquest became known, found that Mousa suffered 93 injuries before his death.