Lawyers say evidence of torture by British troops

Attorneys for five Iraqi men detained by British troops after the battle say witness testimony, death certificates and video footage of mutilated bodies all support the claims. They are demanding a public inquiry.

The British military strongly denies the accusations, and says the dead were insurgents killed in a gun battle after ambushing British troops.

“We are of the view that our clients’ allegations that the British army is responsible for the torture and death of up to 20 Iraqis may well be true,” said Martyn Day, a lawyer for the five, who say they were detained at the British army’s Abu Naji base at the time of the alleged executions.

Day and another attorney, Phil Shiner, are representing the five men in a damages suit against the British military. All say they were laborers who were innocently caught up in the violence. The lawyers have also asked the High Court to order a public inquiry into the May 14, 2004, battle near the town of at Al Majar Al Kabir.

Iraqi doctors recorded signs of torture, including facial mutilation, on several of the corpses. A video shot by a local Iraqi and released by the lawyers shows several of the bodies with bloodied faces.

Day said some of the injuries appeared “highly unusual in a battlefield.” “For example, quite how so many of the Iraqis sustained single gunshots to the head and from seemingly at close quarter, how did two of them end with their eyes gouged out, how did one have his penis cut off (and) some have torture wounds?” he asked.