RSS feed for the British Army Killings website http://http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk// en British Army Killings Bereaved relatives and politicians have welcomed plans to reopen inquests into the deaths of 10 people shot dead by British troops in Belfast 40 years ago.Northern Ireland's Attorney General, John Larkin, has written to the families confirming the fresh probes into the Parachute Regiment killings in the Ballymurphy area in the west of the city.The shootings took place in August 1971 when internmen... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/29/Ballymurphy-Massacre-probes-hailed The jury at an inquest into the killing of Daniel Hegarty by British soldiers in Londonderry in 1972 found the boy "posed no risk" when he was shot.The 15-year-old was shot during Operation Motorman on 31 July 1972.Daniel, who was a labourer, was shot twice in the head by a soldier close to his home in Creggan. His cousin Christopher, 16, was shot in the head by the same soldier but survived.On Fr... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/28/Daniel-Hegarty-inquest-finds-boy-posed-no-risk A human rights lawyer warned yesterday that the killing of Baha Mousa and seven other Iraqi detainees in British military custody is "just the tip of the iceberg". Phil Shiner, a lawyer acting for Baha Mousa's family, warned that the Gage inquiry into Mousa's brutal death at the hands of British troops in Iraq was just the start of a number of damning allegations that would "rock the Army". He sai... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/27/Death-in-military-custody-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg MOD apologises 40 years after fatal shooting of Billy McKavanagh Forty years ago British soldiers shot Billy McKavanagh in the back as he ran away from them in a republican area of Belfast. Soldiers then pistol-whipped his brother and cousin, and further seriously assaulted them while in custody. Now, the Ministry of Defence has taken the highly unusual step of apologising to the family. The MoD l... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/26/MOD-apologises-for-shooting-Billy-McKavanagh The UN's expert on human rights violations has warned that an inquiry into allegations of UK complicity in torture during the "war on terror" may not be open enough to expose wrongdoing by the security services. "A less than open and transparent inquiry would only serve to cover up abuses and encourage recurrence," said Juan Méndez, the UN's special rapporteur on torture, who made his comments am... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/25/UN-fears-for-British-torture-inquiry The European Court of Human Rights dismissed claims that British soldiers were not subject to convention requirements British troops accused of the unlawful killing and ill-treatment of civilians while at war in Iraq were governed by Europe's human rights convention at the time, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The verdict from the court in Strasbourg dismissed claims by the UK govern... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/24/Human-rights-ruling-on-Iraq-troops A young Catholic man shot dead by the Army 40 years ago was innocent, a report has said. Billy McKavanagh was shot in the back as he ran away when confronted by soldiers in the Markets area of Belfast in the early hours of August 11, 1971, according to the findings in the Historical Enquiries Team report. It concluded: “Billy's death was an absolute tragedy that should not have happened.&nb... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/23/Innocent-Catholic-was-shot-in-back-by-Army-40-years-ago Human rights groups and lawyers intend to pull out of the inquiry into British complicity in allegations of torture because it does not have ''credibility or transparency'', they said today. In a joint letter to the solicitor for the inquiry, 10 groups including Liberty, Reprieve and Amnesty International said they did not intend to submit any evidence or attend any further meetings with the inqu... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/22/Human-Rights-Group-pull-out-of-torture-inquiry- The Iraq war logs add hugely to the evidence in the public domain about the number of Iraqi civilians killed during the occupation. Precisely how many were killed will never be known partly because the US and UK did not consider it necessary to keep any public record. However, we now know from the important work of Iraq Body Count that the war logs disclosed increase the previously known number of... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/21/Iraq-war-logs-Bringing-Britain-to-book Majella O’Hare was 12 years old in 1976 when she was shot twice in the back by a British army private. It was a bright summer's day in 1976 and the schoolgirl had just walked past an army checkpoint on the way to church. Moments later, she lay dying on a country road in County Armagh, shot in the back by a paratrooper. Now, almost 35 years after the infamous killing, an unprecedented apology fr... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/20/Ministry-of-Defence-says-sorry-for-killing-of-Majella-OHare WikiLeaks cables reveal US diplomats feared that 'elements of the security-legal establishments' in Britain beyond MI5 were resisting an inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane. MI5 has said that it is prepared to hand over sensitive files on one of the most high-profile murders during the Northern Ireland Troubles carried out by loyalist gunmen working with members of the British security fo... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/19/Wikileaks-cable-exposes-collusion-between-UFF-and-British-security-forces New eyewitness accounts of the shootings of 11 people by British soldiers in Northern Ireland have been submitted to the region's Attorney General in a bid to get fresh inquests opened. The statements form part of an extensive file of information related to the so-called Ballymurphy Massacre in west Belfast that has been compiled by the victims' families. Archive testimony of the 1971 killings col... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/18/Call-for-fresh-Ballymurphy-inquests British colonel keeps rank despite being branded 'unreliable witness 'Colonel Dudley Giles, a top military police officer, was a key witness in investigation into claims British soldiers mutilated and murdered Iraqi civilians A senior army officer described by high court judges as an unreliable witness, and allegedly accused of asking his staff to lie on oath, has retained a top post within the mi... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/17/Col-Dudley-Giles-keeps-his-job- Servicemen at 'UK's Abu Ghraib' may be guilty of war crimes, court hears British servicemen who filmed hundreds of interrogation sessions at a secret prison near Basra which has been described as "the UK's Abu Ghraib" may be guilty of war crimes, the high court heard today. Evidence of the alleged systematic and brutal mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the facility, operated by a military intelli... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/16/Servicemen-at-UKs-Abu-Ghraib-may-be-guilty-of-war-crimes Mr Clegg, whose Liberal Democrats opposed the war in Iraq, said the allegations of killings, torture and abuse disclosed by the leaked American logs should be "properly examined". "We can bemoan how these leaks occurred, but I think the nature of the allegations made are extraordinarily serious," he said in BBC interview. Asked if there should be an inquiry into the role of British troops, he said... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/15/Nick-Clegg-backs-calls-for-British-Army-investigation Britain's role in the alleged torture and unlawful killing of Iraqi civilians may be the subject of legal action following the publication of nearly 400,000 leaked military documents by the website WikiLeaks. British lawyers said the classified US army field reports embroiled British as well as American forces in an alleged culture of abuse and extrajudicial killings in Iraq. Solicitor Phil Shiner... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/14/Iraq-war-logs-Wikileaks-exposes-British-and-US-Army-killings Torture inquiry faces court-room battle amid growing fury over appointment of Judge Gibson.David Cameron will face a court-room battle over the government’s torture inquiry unless the judge in charge stands down.Human rights group Reprieve has vowed to seek a judicial review to prevent Sir Peter Gibson chairing the probe into whether British spies were complicit in the torture of terrorist suspe... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/12/Torture-inquiry-fury-over-appointment-of-Judge-Gibson The high court today gave permission for a judicial review of the government's failure to hold a public inquiry into the British army's detention policies in Iraq amid allegations that large numbers of civilians were tortured.The court said it could be argued that "the alleged ill-treatment was systemic, and not just at the whim of individual soldiers". It went on to criticise the effectiveness of... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/11/High-court-victory-for-102-Iraqi-prisoners A British soldier "enjoyed" hearing Iraqis call out in pain as they were kicked and punched while in a detention centre, a court martial has heard. British Cpl Donald Payne referred to the noises made as "the choir", which he "conducted" in front of visitors to the centre, said a prosecuting QC. The 35-year-old admits inhumane treatment but denies manslaughter. Six other soldiers have pleaded n... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/6/UK-soldier-enjoyed-Iraqis-pain- The Ministry of Defence is facing a further series of court battles that may shed more damaging light on the conduct of British troops in Iraq, after it emerged that many more civilians died in army custody than previously thought. At least eight Iraqi civilians are now acknowledged to have died while being held by the British military after the 2003 invasion, including Baha Mousa, the hotel recep... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/4/More-Iraqi-Death-in-British-Army-Custody A former army commanding officer said today that he knew nothing about alleged abuse of Iraqi detainees by his men. Colonel Jorge Mendonca said he was not informed of a series of incidents in which prisoners were reportedly ill-treated by soldiers under his command in Iraq in 2003. Giving evidence to the public inquiry into the death of hotel worker Baha Mousa, he suggested that his officers might... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/1/Example-News-Story The British Armed Forces minister today admitted that he misinformed MPs about the abuse of Iraqi detainees. Adam Ingram, armed forces minister at the time Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel worker, died in the custody of British soldiers, blamed his officials and his own "failure to recollect" for misleading information given to parliament. Documents showing that soldiers hooded Mousa and other Iraqi deta... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/5/Adam-Ingram-lied-to-MPs-over-Iraqi-detainees-abuse A female British soldier is accused of sexually humiliating and abusing prisoners in Iraq in a series of claims about British troops in Basra, The Times has learnt. Five former detainees have made specific allegations against a female interrogator they knew as “Katy”.The claims are among 14 new cases brought against a secretive British Army interrogation unit. These bring to 40 the total of pe... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/10/Iraqi-prisoners-were-sexually-humiliated-by-female-British-soldier Iraqi prisoner abuse was widespread, says convicted ex-soldier, Source: independentBy Sam Marsden, Press Association Monday, 16 November 2009 The only soldier convicted over the death of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa today described widespread abuse of prisoners by British troops - including an officer. Former corporal Donald Payne told the public inquiry into Mr Mousa's death that he witnessed L... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/8/Iraq-prisoner-abuse-was-widespread Britain's Abu Ghraib: Did Britain collude with US in abuse of Iraqis? By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor, The Independant, Saturday, 14 November 2009 Claims that British soldiers recreated the torture conditions of Abu Ghraib to commit the sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi civilians are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence. The fresh allegations raise important questions about collusion betw... http://www.britisharmykillings.org.uk/news/story/7/Britains-Abu-Ghraib