by antiaristo » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:57 pm
<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr> <!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="font-size:small;">Soldier arrested over Iraqi torture photos</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--> <br><br>Embarrassment for army which prided itself on its tolerance <br><br>Richard Norton-Taylor<br>Saturday May 31, 2003<br>The Guardian <br><br><br>Military police are questioning a British soldier about photographs of alleged "torture" of Iraqi prisoners of war, including one gagged and bound, and dangling in netting from a fork-lift truck. <br>Other photos allegedly show soldiers commiting sex acts in front of captured Iraqis. <br><br>Photograph developers are understood to have called the police after a film had been handed in to their shop in Tamworth, Staffordshire. The soldier under arrest, who has not been named, is in the 1st Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. <br><br>The regiment was part of the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, in southern Iraq during the war. It is based in Celle, Germany, but the soldier is believed to have been on leave in Britain. <br><br>He was handed over to the military authorities who are holding him at a secret location. The special investigations branch of the Royal Military police has launched an inquiry. <br><br>An MoD spokeswoman yesterday confirmed an investigation was under way into "allegations of photos depicting maltreatment of Iraqi PoWs". She added: "We cannot comment further. But if there is any truth in these allegations the MoD is appalled. We take responsibility to PoWs extremely seriously." <br><br>If the allegations turn out to be true, soldiers involved would be guilty of a breach of the Geneva convention which rules that PoWs have to be treated humanely. Appropiate action would be simple, defence sources said. "They would be kicked out of the army and imprisoned." <br><br>The human rights group Amnesty International welcomed the inquiry and stressed that the torture allegations must not be "swept under the carpet". A spokeswoman, Lesley Warner, said: "If these allegations are true, then this is clearly a violation of the Geneva convention, which absolutely prohibits any torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. <br><br>"Amnesty International would expect that any such allegations be treated extremely seriously by the MoD and investigated thoroughly." <br><br>The allegations are extremely embarrassing to the British army which prided itself on a more tolerant and understanding approach than US soldiers towards Iraqis. <br><br>They follow last week's disclosure that Colonel Tim Collins who commanded the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment is being investigated by military police after serious allegations of ill-treatment made by an American soldier. <br><br>The colonel, who has since been promoted, is alleged to have pistol-whipped an Iraqi civil leader, shot at the feet of Iraqi civilians, and shot at the tyres of vehicles when there was no threat to the lives of soldiers. <br><br>The allegations, which Col Collins denies, were made by a US major in charge of reservists protecting oil wells near Basra, in south-east Iraq. <br><br>The Guardian revealed that the MoD is conducting a separate, but much broader, inquiry linked to a suicide in Northern Ireland of a young soldier in the regiment. <br><br>It will investigate what the ministry describes as the "military environment" which has existed within regiment under the command of Col Collins. <br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,967528,00.html">www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/S...28,00.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>